Physical performance. It doesn’t have to look pretty.

It doesn’t have to look pretty.

When you are training your face will be expressing all sorts of emotions, you will be sweating or red on your face, and you may be placing yourself in poses and positions that might seem strange to those who have no idea what you are doing. But is that actually important what do they think?
Of course it is not. It does not matter.
What matters then?
You are supposed to be concentrating on your technique and correct form.
Whatever sport/activity you choose to do it is your technique and engagement with what you are doing that matters.

Correct form and 100% of your presence while you are training are the things you need to pay attention to.
How others see you, what you are wearing, if your top matches your shoes, what haircut do you have, whether you 20, in your 30’s, 68 or 79, man or a woman  should not be of your concern at all.
Only your PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE determined by your mental engagement matters. And that is what brings the results you expect from your activity.

Whatever you are able to perform do at your best.

Walk and Stretch

Move, Stretch & Breathe program is a concept which I developed over years of performing various sports with high frequency and intensity and years of teaching. I took my inspiration mostly from any martial art I have ever been involved with, yoga, children’s movement, extensive knowledge of stretching and working on warm ups to improve joints range of movement, and more…

Human body amazes me and there is no single day I wouldn’t try to analyse and understand more of its anatomical, physical and physiological abilities. The way this whole great system operates without any break for all our life is just incredible.  Often we forget how wonderful it is and how much it has to work to overcome the hardship of serving our not so healthy lifestyle these days.

You and your body are meant to work together for your own betterment. The body tries to. Will you?

Your physical performance is determined by the connection you can establish with your body. You have a choice to listen to it and perform well or don’t listen to it and …

Move, Stretch & Breathe is a gentle form of physical activity that will help you to establish that connection.

And here are some other

benefits of taking part in Move, Stretch & Breathe program:

  • lightens mood and makes everything look better
  • strengthens your body by helping to increase your range of motion and improve circulation; wards off heart disease, brings up the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and strengthens the heart
  • improves your breathing; when walking, your breathing rate increases, causing oxygen to travel faster through bloodstream, helping to eliminate waste products and improve your energy level and the ability to heal
  • supports your joints; the majority of joint cartilage has no direct blood supply. It gets its nutrition from synovial or joint fluid that circulates as we move. Impact that comes from movement or compression, such as walking, “squishes” the cartilage, bringing oxygen and nutrients into the area. If you don’t walk, joints are deprived of life-giving fluid, which can speed their deterioration.
  • can lead to weight loss
  • improves sleep
  • increases flexibility
  • increases range of motion in your joints
  • brings relief from pain
  • increases energy levels
  • relaxation and stress relief
  • enhances muscular coordination
  • improves posture
  • brings greater sense of well-being.

Most of my Move, Stretch & Breathe programs are deeply restorative, designed to strengthen joints, ligaments, tendons, improve blood circulation, bring greater range of motion to stiff and restricted joints and muscles, improve posture and increase energy levels.

Move, Stretch & Breathe programs are perfect for anyone regardless of age, sex or physical ability.

Although for interested ones I take it to another level where it becomes pretty intense calisthenics based workout on its own. So if you think you can train hard come and try!

walk and stretch and calisthenics

Balance in life – a little bit of my story. Part I

Everyone seems to talk about balance these days.

Balanced diet/nutrition, balanced lifestyle, balanced exercise program, balance between HDL and LDL (balance between “good” and “bad” cholesterol),
work-life balance,
emotional balance to name a few ideas in this department.
It all may be actually quite important to a human being, I figured.

What is your idea about balance in life?
What do you think may be out of balance in your life?

Obviously I’m not in the capacity to answer these questions for you but can tell you my own experience and I hope this helps a bit.

It all started with a judo throw.
Ouchi gari?
I can no longer remember what throw that was but it accidentally brought balance into my life…
Along with couple of other factors made that throw made me change my old ways that were not serving me anymore.

The same judo throw, that put me down on the dojo mats with a pain so great that literally took my breath away for a moment, actually turned out to be “a blessing in disguise” after all.

The very first step on the path to betterment of myself through torn cruciate ligament and lateral meniscus in my knee.

At that time I trained pretty hard (as I usually do anyway). I spent most of my days at the dojo training all the martial arts available and most importantly Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ).
I had fallen in love with this martial art and soon made myself break my own weaknesses and barriers and –
3 months from starting to train BJJ I was already competing in Pan Pacific Championships.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Training, teaching, competing, working in several jobs, always in a rush- no time to eat, not much time to sleep, not much money to eat quality food. Fresh products count: close to zero.
I lived on supermarket home brand pasta, sweet chilli sauce, cheap eggs and bread- gluten in its purest wheat nature.

How far can your body go this way?

Not far at all…

So here I am, desperate to continue training and compete in the next Oceania BJJ comp with my knee giving me hell lot of a pain and restricting movement.
Screw this.
I’m winning silver in my weight category with my leg in a big brace made of a strapping tape.
A month later I can barely walk.
Surprise (!!).

So I’m desperate again.
I want to avoid a “death sentence” – that’s what I thought about the knee surgery and being away from trainings for months of rehab.

I start looking for alternative ideas and anyone who can make my knee working well again without surgery.
My coach introduces me to a CHEK practitioner who turns my whole world I used to know upside down.

He tells  me about diet, gives some hair-raising information about organic foods, dairy, gluten, processed foods, coffee, sugar, alcohol, relationships etc. …

He gets me to do all the impossible and absolutely bizarre exercises (well, at least they seemed to be back then…).
I do it all.
I try hard although still can’t believe or understand some of the things he tries to teach me.
I still do them.

I go organic, I change my eating habits, I change my sleeping patterns…
I change…

I start  to cook and forget about the coffee.
Coffee was a tough one- I can still hear myself arguing:

“What do you mean stop drinking coffee???
Ok, so now you’re saying I can actually have ONE a day if I really can’t go without.  (I sigh…what a relief…)
Whaaaat??
Before 9am only and with no milk?!
Really??
Whaaaat??
Artificial sweetener is a killer??”

So silly I was back then…

I try HARD to be in bed before 10am and do deep breathing beforehand
And I stretch. Oh my goodness gracious me!!

I DO STRETCH!!!

This awful and disregarded activity that I just couldn’t stand for years becomes a vital part of my life.

I chew my food thoroughly,
I concentrate on eating – no more movies, books, newspapers etc. just me, food and the process of eating.

I cook bone broth; the whole house stinks like a cowshed or worse…

I eat grass fed cows’ liver, forget about my beloved bread and most of the fruit.
I soak and dehydrate nuts before eating.
activated nutsLuckily I had already abandoned soft drinks (I call them “shitty drinks” and dare to say, as a former heavy user of the shitty drinks, I have the full right to call them this way)
and given up any idea about “low fat food”.

This all is super strange to me, quite difficult or even horrible!
But I don’t want my knee to get cut open and I want to train so much.
I need to heal and get stronger.
So I do it all.

Well, completely torn ligament does not grow back together just like that and I finally decide to have it surgically fixed.

I’m in the hospital, pale and about to faint before even seeing the anaesthetist, thirsty as hell (mandatory fasting before the procedure ain’t fun) but it should be good.

All those changes had already started bringing balance back to my life and my body grew stronger.

I should recover in no time.

I’m pretty much naked, wearing only that funny sort of a gown they give you at the hospital and trying to joke about it with my mum.

I’m really scared.
Now it’s just me and the anaesthetist.
He gives me some stuff, disappears and comes back with more.
Now I’m truly horrified.
Next thing I see myself on a bed in a big room, half conscious.
I can’t remember the pain then.
I was still drugged, with morphine and other stuff in my blood and I just wanted to sleep.

Then all the rest happens…

Morphine is gone and here I am with my aching leg and the whole new story in front of us.

New life is about to begin.

please bring me my bone broth