Harald Motz
Level 8 Valued Member
hello all,
this is my first post on this forum and i want to apologize for any mistakes in my use of the english language (and body english), because it has been a long time ago since i was taught it at school. I appreciate any form of critique and form critique to enhance my awareness, since i know there are so many knowledgeable people on this forum in the pursuit of strength.
I am 37 years old and an complete autodidact in learning to perform strength movements. Thanks to the internet i started to get informed about five years ago in my serious journey to learn lifting weights and practice of zazen.
I was in sports early on as a child (soccer, table tennis, tae kwon do, figure dancing in a strange thing called karneval) at a low level, because i grew up and live to these days in a rural landscape called der westerwald (westwood) in germany. In my youth i started jogging and bike riding a lot in my spare time, most of the time alone. To move was and is one of the few things (besides breathing, drinking, eating and getting rid of the s***) in my life that take no energy out of me to get involved in. this comes to me naturally.
Because of my simple mind and love for simplicity i tumbled in the net on Mr. Tsatsouline and his teachings. Power to the People. A real man explaining without the so often artificial smile while demonstrating the lifts (but a rough sense of humour) and the use of understandable words what he does and why he does it, and so should i. A usefull down to earth approach to become a better man or woman.
I learned about principles (the good thing about them is they are a few and are universal in other aspects of life. Its only ostensible a disatvantage that it takes a lifetime of almost daily "boring" practice to get skillfull, while they give human beings sound routines to evolve. And when getting the chance to get time of a lifetime you can finally get wise.):
importance of breath
its about full range movement(aesthetically pleasing execution), not isolation
tension (comes from the brain and the nerves) generates force and makes us strong
practice means to execute often with utmost concentration not to failure
humility to be a student and to be a teacher
While you have an idiot as a teacher when you are your own student, i missed programming (cycles) although explained intensivally in all of Pavel's work and got ETK, RTK, PTPP, NW, VWC, KBM and the whole armada published by dragondoor, but all in all not a bad investment as you all know. But i kept a log and learned a thing or two. and the strong crowd of strongfirst knows the third thing. What we all can get out of this forum is usefull proven experiences proven in reality. Nothing fancy.
I started simple and sinister on 02.01.2014 and have until now 151 sessions under my belt, i currently post on my YouTube channel. The more I practiced and reread the e-book, i experienced that in the simplicity of this program are so many aspects hidden i have to practice on and on, to reap great benefits. This is a real WOD in disguise, a Workout Of a Decade. By now i find the greatest benefit and the hardest thing to master, is my breath.
To stay calm and focused and breath out deeply through my nose after the second set of swings is for me like drowning in stormy water. The natural reflex is to hyperventilate to suck oxygen when you come "over water" and rest after a turmoil of full body (and mind) explosive swings. I know when i polish this skill of stress manegement i will become big time more the master of myself istrive to be. A kind of yin and yang relationship.
The other aspect of the protocol is laser light explosiveness of each and every rep. In the swing i came to the conclusion its not only what you do with your working but what you do with your free arm. when this movement is equally sharp and crisp on either side, helps the swinging a lot. Same goes to the get up where i strive for fluidity and try to make my "strong side like my stronger side".
To get really into this is to read and reread the book, the forum, film and watch yourself and others doing it (assessment). Needless to say to follow the program as written.
I personally plan to come back to this protocoll as a sort of bread and butter or meat and potatoe program in the next decade along practicing a few other basics. Additionally for me it is good to know that i don't have to go all out in the sessions to let the improvements of performance come naturally and injury free. My observed benefits are:
focus and discipline (how boring is that)
flexibility, mobility (don't ignore the warm up program and stretching)
endurance
explosiveness
body tension
calm mind (stress management)
skill of auto regulation
hypertrophy
thanks to all of you reading this post, greetings from the westwood,
Harald
this is my first post on this forum and i want to apologize for any mistakes in my use of the english language (and body english), because it has been a long time ago since i was taught it at school. I appreciate any form of critique and form critique to enhance my awareness, since i know there are so many knowledgeable people on this forum in the pursuit of strength.
I am 37 years old and an complete autodidact in learning to perform strength movements. Thanks to the internet i started to get informed about five years ago in my serious journey to learn lifting weights and practice of zazen.
I was in sports early on as a child (soccer, table tennis, tae kwon do, figure dancing in a strange thing called karneval) at a low level, because i grew up and live to these days in a rural landscape called der westerwald (westwood) in germany. In my youth i started jogging and bike riding a lot in my spare time, most of the time alone. To move was and is one of the few things (besides breathing, drinking, eating and getting rid of the s***) in my life that take no energy out of me to get involved in. this comes to me naturally.
Because of my simple mind and love for simplicity i tumbled in the net on Mr. Tsatsouline and his teachings. Power to the People. A real man explaining without the so often artificial smile while demonstrating the lifts (but a rough sense of humour) and the use of understandable words what he does and why he does it, and so should i. A usefull down to earth approach to become a better man or woman.
I learned about principles (the good thing about them is they are a few and are universal in other aspects of life. Its only ostensible a disatvantage that it takes a lifetime of almost daily "boring" practice to get skillfull, while they give human beings sound routines to evolve. And when getting the chance to get time of a lifetime you can finally get wise.):
importance of breath
its about full range movement(aesthetically pleasing execution), not isolation
tension (comes from the brain and the nerves) generates force and makes us strong
practice means to execute often with utmost concentration not to failure
humility to be a student and to be a teacher
While you have an idiot as a teacher when you are your own student, i missed programming (cycles) although explained intensivally in all of Pavel's work and got ETK, RTK, PTPP, NW, VWC, KBM and the whole armada published by dragondoor, but all in all not a bad investment as you all know. But i kept a log and learned a thing or two. and the strong crowd of strongfirst knows the third thing. What we all can get out of this forum is usefull proven experiences proven in reality. Nothing fancy.
I started simple and sinister on 02.01.2014 and have until now 151 sessions under my belt, i currently post on my YouTube channel. The more I practiced and reread the e-book, i experienced that in the simplicity of this program are so many aspects hidden i have to practice on and on, to reap great benefits. This is a real WOD in disguise, a Workout Of a Decade. By now i find the greatest benefit and the hardest thing to master, is my breath.
To stay calm and focused and breath out deeply through my nose after the second set of swings is for me like drowning in stormy water. The natural reflex is to hyperventilate to suck oxygen when you come "over water" and rest after a turmoil of full body (and mind) explosive swings. I know when i polish this skill of stress manegement i will become big time more the master of myself istrive to be. A kind of yin and yang relationship.
The other aspect of the protocol is laser light explosiveness of each and every rep. In the swing i came to the conclusion its not only what you do with your working but what you do with your free arm. when this movement is equally sharp and crisp on either side, helps the swinging a lot. Same goes to the get up where i strive for fluidity and try to make my "strong side like my stronger side".
To get really into this is to read and reread the book, the forum, film and watch yourself and others doing it (assessment). Needless to say to follow the program as written.
I personally plan to come back to this protocoll as a sort of bread and butter or meat and potatoe program in the next decade along practicing a few other basics. Additionally for me it is good to know that i don't have to go all out in the sessions to let the improvements of performance come naturally and injury free. My observed benefits are:
focus and discipline (how boring is that)
flexibility, mobility (don't ignore the warm up program and stretching)
endurance
explosiveness
body tension
calm mind (stress management)
skill of auto regulation
hypertrophy
thanks to all of you reading this post, greetings from the westwood,
Harald