Fitness Philosophy 101 – “Get Into Yourself”
I first became interested in the profession of personal training when I moved to Miami in 2004. I had always been physically active, yet being mainly involved in music my lifestyle during my 20’s and 30’s was primarily dictated by the demands of the music business. I have been a performing artist, a recording engineer, a live sound engineer, a producer and a DJ, and sometimes all at once. Through the experiences of working in recording studios, night clubs, bars and touring live, I was exposed and enjoyed a bit of the unhealthy lifestyle practices that often go along with working in the entertainment industry. Years of late nights in studios, clubs and being on the road lead to a number of bad habits such as poor eating, bad sleeping patterns, too much caffeine, unwanted weight loss, things that I knew needed fixing but I always said “ One day I’ll get my S**t together, I’m young and I have all the time in the world.” When I would say this to myself I always felt like a bit of a hypocrite because I knew first hand that the habits of your youth come back later in life. Both my father and grandfather suffered from high blood pressure. Both suffered massive strokes, my father went on to lose a leg.
My grandfather’s legs, well I watched his legs get so weak they were barely of any use to him. Still a part of me took my age and natural physical abilities for granted. Another major contributor to my feelings of self-hypocrisy was the fact that I had always been involved in martial arts, which require an endless supply of discipline.
On the subject of discipline, becoming a father at age 26 was another major turning point in my outlook on life, on leading a balanced healthy life. I made up my mind that I didn’t want to become a musician who couldn’t balance a healthy lifestyle with a creative one.
Once I became exposed to the writings of Bruce Lee, I knew I could achieve that exact balance. After my father’s series of strokes, the death of my grandfather and the birth of my daughter I knew I had to really pay closer attention to my health, point blank. Bruce Lee’s art and philosophy of Jeet Kune Do would be the means by which I would begin to search for that balance of a healthy and a creative lifestyle. I knew had the ingredients to living a healthy lifestyle, but I didn’t know how to put them all together. A healthy lifestyle is not solely attained by becoming physically fit, but by balancing, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness along with physical activity. I had finally found a path that seemed like it would take to where I wanted to be, and Bruce Lee helped to point out the way.
The story of Bruce Lee is not the subject of this piece, yet his research and approach to understanding the balance of the human spirit and human body is one that I share in my daily thoughts and practices in personal training. Weather leading a boxing class or a one on one session, connecting with the spirit of people is how I get them to “move” their bodies. We as humans are all unique yet all the same. That in itself makes being a trainer a challenge, a challenge that I approach with focus and intent, open mindedness and creativity. One of Bruce Lee’s many intellectual qualities was his knowledge of physical anatomy and exercise physiology. He understood that in order for a body to complete the endless series of movements demanded in martial art training (all physical activity in general), that a complex yet natural phenomenon was occurring simultaneously. The coordination of the human body physically with the expression of the human spirit mentally and emotionally. This was exactly my line of thought as well. The thought of how many things were required to happen all at once in order for a technique to be effective fascinated me and still does. How a command from the brain, based on an audible, visible or physical cue that then translates into a precise movement that a series of components must work together to perform properly amazes me. How after a tough and demanding work out session or class or sparring session how the feeling of accomplishment can lift the human spirit is beautiful.
After years of keeping my martial art training as a side bar to my music, living in Miami showed me that it didn’t need to be just a side bar. I began to see that my music and my martial arts could balance each other out and I could make a living out of the two activities I loved the most. It was then that I made the decision to go to school and become a certified personal trainer. It reminds me of when my daughter who is almost 13 now was first learning how to color. She would always ask me ” Daddy, what colors should I use?” I would reply, ” I can only show you how to stay in the lines, but you must choose your own colors and choose them from your heart.” The same is true for martial arts, boxing, and any type of physical training program, music, LIFE in general. There are certain guidelines and rules you must learn in order to establish a strong foundation, but within that foundation YOU can create endless possibilities. It’s like when one trains and studies in a physical discipline its as if your body is the set of lines and your movements creates the colors. All of this sounds nice and philosophically cool but I must admit one of the things that held me back in the past was my fear of failure. Somewhere inside of me there was an insecure teen that was afraid he would start something and not see it through. No one wants to look or feel like a failure, we all want to be successful at that at which we do.
In order to be successful I believe one must follow that which motivates them. Sometimes motivation can come in the form of fun; sometimes it can come in the form of life or death situations. For a lot of adults past 40, health becomes an issue that can motivate us based on fear. Although as an American population we have serious issues with obesity, heart disease, cancer, drug and food addictions to name a few, we also as a culture a have a deep love for sports, outdoor activities, dancing, social activities point blank Americans love to have fun. We all want to be successful yet still have fun. How do we balance the demands of work, family and life with the NEED to be healthy? As a personal trainer I insist that exercise can be and SHOULD be fun. If it’s just another form of work, most adults simply wont do it. In my experience even if a person knows that leading a more active and healthy lifestyle will be of priceless benefit, if it’s not fun they will not continue. As I said before
Different people need different forms of motivation, and my approach is not the fear factor but the fun factor. I love martial arts; I love boxing so these are the hubs of my own workout. Ever since I started training it was 80% was based on the desire to be able to perform my martial arts better, the 20% was to look better, ok maybe a 75/25 spilt, point being it was performance based. I did not have a clear understanding of how the movements and techniques were not only meant for fighting, but also for physical and mental health benefits that went beyond “looking good”. Once I went to school and learned about the basics of exercise physiology so many things started to become clear.
Clear to me, as I was studying and clear to me as I was training. I now began to have a better understanding of not just why I was doing a certain movement, but how it was being performed by my body. After all these years of being physically active I finally was becoming aware of ” the more than meets the eye” concept. I went to school in 1990 for audio engineering for the same reasons. I knew and loved music for all my life, performed it many ways. Listening to a record amazed me as kid, “how does sound come from a piece of plastic that’s placed on to a turning plate that touches and needle and it then it makes the sound come out of a box called a speaker ” So I went to school and learned how to be recording engineer. I knew would be a musician of sort all my life and I wanted the freedom and feeling of independence when it came time to produce record and create. It was the same line of thinking when it came to training. That’s why I went to school.
Here are just a few examples of my own training sessions:
I train cardio so I can kick and punch longer without “gassing out. In all physical activities and in everyday life the one muscle that never gets a stop working is the HEART, so you must train cardio to make it a strong muscle. I train resistance so my bones are stronger and my muscles have more endurance when I’m hitting the focus mitts and heavy bag or an opponent during sparring. The forms of resistance are varied from body resistance to weights, medicine balls, sticks, sand bags, bottles of water, resistance bands, 16 oz sparring gloves.
I train in flexibility to remain loose so I can punch and kick faster and more accurate on the double end bag speed bag heavy bags and during sparring. I train all sections of my abdominals, rectos, transverse and oblique so that I can rotate my hips and faster through pivoting my feet yet remain stabilized and in balanced during and after throwing combinations. The rectos, transverse, and obliques are the abdominal muscles commonly referred to as the “CORE”. The Core is where power speed and balance are derived from.
I train my legs so that I have a firm foundation supporting my center of gravity, lots of squats, lunges and footwork drills; I love footwork drills my class will tell you!! I train my chest by doing push-ups and upper body plyometrics for explosive and responsive punching power. I do pull ups and chin ups for my back and core so that I have the power to explode upon impact with my agonist muscles while having the control of my antagonist muscles to de-celerate and get back to my fighting stance, and then I skip rope to stay light on my feet and keep my shoulders and arms relaxed while keeping my heart rate up. The list goes on My point is that because of my love for the martial arts and boxing I train for it because I want to be successful in the things I love to do. Even if one doesn’t love the martial arts or sports of any kind, I believe that self love is another key but the choice of colors let them come from your heart.” As a personal trainer I lead my clients and classes the same way, I can show them the form of the exercise, but they have to do the work, from the inside out. Once that light goes off inside of someone and the fuse for learning a technique is lit with desire, you begin to notice that complex yet natural phenomenon begin to occur. Bruce Lee called it “IT”. When all the elements combine at once and the feelings within ones heart, the thoughts in one’s mind and the information residing in the neuro muscular system, all come together at once “IT happens I don’t make it happen..“
The next time you look at one of your favorite athletes perform an incredible play, or the next time you see one your favorite fighters land a crispy strong blow, or the next you complete a simple push-up, just know that this you are witnessing “IT”. At any level be it professional or recreational, a healthy, successful lifestyle is something that takes dedication, hard work, and attention to detail. Yet “IT” is there for everybody, as “IT” exists in us all. The gym I work at in Miami, South Florida Boxing has a motto “ You don’t have to be a boxer to train like one”. I love that because it speaks volumes of truth, each and everybody can enjoy the benefits of a boxer’s workout, even if it’s not your vocation it can be a great vacation with huge health benefits. Most of us have some kind of boss, some one we have to answer to on some level. When you exercise, eat right, sleep well and project positive thoughts, you are your own boss and after all the hard work you put in YOU are the first one to reap the benefits, yet every one around you benefits from your success. Balance is beautiful and so are you!!!!!!!!!!!
Djinji Brown
Miami Florida
November 2009
