10 Things you need to know to stay fit for life #6

10 Things you need to know to stay fit for life. #6

I am 61 years old and I look better than you. I am more fit, more flexible, more virile and stronger than 99% of the people in America over 40 years of age. How did I get that way? How can you get that way and more importantly; how can you stay in great shape for 61 years? How do you stay Fit For Life?

I believe that lifetime fitness is a multifaceted program that has 10 key components. In the next few weeks I will be discussing the 10 secrets you need to know to stay fit for life.

Daily Exercise Program
Lifting Weights or using Resistance Training
Nutrition
Sleep
Mental Conditioning
Breathing
Flexibility Secrets
Work your Abs everyday
Vitamins and Supplements
Sharing your knowledge and training

# 5 Breathing

Breathing is Vital

The importance of proper breathing correctly while exercising and in everyday life can not be overemphasized. Why, because if you lose control of your breath, you will always lose control of your mind. You can be the smartest person in the room. You can the strongest person in the club. You can be the fittest person at the event, but if you lose control of your breathing you lose control of every situation you are in and whatever advantage or incentive you may have had is also lost. It is a simple fact, if you can’t breath, you can’t control the outcome of any situation. So if you can’t control your breathing you can’t control your exercise and fitness program.

One of the most important things you can learn in your life is that your breath controls your mind. It is not the other way around. Your mind does not control your breath; your breath controls your mind. I believe everyone is aware of the fact that you have to breathe to stay alive, and you have to breath about every 30 seconds in most situations. If you don’t take a breath within 1 or 2 minutes, you will absolutely assuredly die. No exceptions, no second chances. You must get fresh breath every 30 seconds or you will die. Breathing is the most “vital” of all the vital things you have to do for your body to stay alive.

You can go 3 days without water, 2 weeks without food, but you can’t go 2 minutes without fresh breath. The Good Lord made it an “obsession” with you that you take breaths every 30 seconds or so and nothing can prevent that from happening. You can kill yourself for love, destroy your life with drugs, drink yourself to death, eat yourself to death, or starve yourself to death but you can’t hold your breath until you die, and you can’t let anyone else deprive you of breath without putting up a fight. It is the most important thing for your life and therefore when your normal breathing is interrupted your mind shuts off all other functions until you can breathe again.

We have all had the experience of running very fast and “running out of breath”. When this happens to you, you stop worrying about dinner, your bills, your diet, you stop all other thought. Your mind shuts down everything else until you get control of your breath again. Everyone has had this experience. If you have ever had the horrible experience of almost drowning you know this experience from an even more terrifying manner. I have almost drowned in a swimming pool several times and the fear and panic is unbelievable. Your mind is completely stopped as you experience this near death phenomenon.

Now let us relate this back to the premise of controlling your breathing. If you lose control of your breathing and get “winded”. If you become short of breathe because you get scarred and start holding your breath while lifting or straining, your mind will shut down and you will not be able to exercise effectively. If you will lose control of breathing, you will lose control of your mind. You will not be able to continue to exercise and that is why when a boxer is “winded” in a fight or a MMA fighter is “winded” in a fight they always make mistakes and wind up losing. You have all seen fighters on TV who start out like a terror and then after a few minutes or a few rounds run out of breath, get winded and simply can’t do anything but walk around in a trance like state, getting hit and doing nothing to respond.

You have to keep your breathing “normal” when doing your exercises. You have to make conscious attempts to breathe normal, to not hold your breath when you are lifting, running, even walking. You have to practice staying calm and have to focus on your breathing. Keep your mind relaxed and keep breathing normal and easy or you will never achieve your exercise and fitness goals.

In future articles I will teach you several techniques for learning to “control your breathing” and how you can practice your breathing when in a stressful situation. There is even a technique I use that allows me to Never Breath In but still get in fresh air by breathing out very hard. It is used by all great boxers and great Martial Artists. Look for it in new articles.

To summarize: You want to stay calm and you have to control your breathing. You cannot “hold your breath” while exercising or working out. You must keep a normal breathing pattern to allow your mind work react in the proper ways that will allow you to gain the full benefit of your exercise program. If you lose control of your breathing you will lose control of your mind.

For more info: Grandmaster Ted Gambordella is the author of 42 books and 24 DVD’s. For more info see his website www.blackbeltinabox.com