Why Lift Weights?

By Dr. Wu Dhi on April 22, 2008 10:16 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Why lift weights? Many years ago in a Colorado gym I was excited to try out the greatest invention in weight training since the dumb bell or was it? Arthur Jones was the mad scientist behind this creation and it did exactly as its creator designed it to do - put maximum stress on individual muscle groups. We thought the nautilus machine was the pinnacle of the fitness world and with it we would develop anatomically perfect bodies unlike anything previously seen. This was the beginning of high intensity training. And this physique was going to be this way because Jones had devised the perfect torture devices with cams and chains that loaded the weight progressively to put the most strain on the muscle at every position - no cheating or easy strokes - all pain directed at ever muscle fiber from tendon to tendon. We loved it, nothing compared to a nautilus workout, and we would laugh and joke about how we couldn't stand up straight the next day. Still to this day think it's a near perfect design. It blows out the muscle from start to finish at high speed and, if you can take it, sprouts huge muscle growth. So you may ask "Dr. Wu, why then do you no longer train with weights? Is this a bad thing?" The truth is on occasion I will pick up some weights or a friend will convince me to try the latest new weight training machine or fitness device. Well into my sixties, I'm not afraid I'm going to hurt myself or do serious damage because my foundation is in the Non-linier power movements of Qi Gong. It is my Qi Gong that allows me to take on this extra effort. Now that may sound strange to some. How can training without weights enable you to train at an even deeper level with weights? Well for evidence of this I need only point to some of the Russian Olympic power lifters. These dudes spent more time off the weights then on them and took home plenty of gold over the last half century to prove their methods as practical. The movements of body weight training are clean because you are the weight. We are talking about building Strength, Speed, and Power, not just muscle mass. When you focus entirely on weight training you are no longer the center, muscles are then enslaved to linear movements and develop abnormal patterns of movement. What I mean by this is that you will never move your body the way you do when you are strapped into to a weight machine unless you ARE strapped into a weight machine. Life comes in wobbles and jolts, circles and twists, pops and drops. There isn't a single sport that mimics the movements of weight lifting other than weight lifting. So when you build muscles in these linear movements you create muscle competency in straight lines only. Then when you go out in the real world blam you get side swiped with the reality of life in dynamic flow not straight lines. Injury will result. Generally speaking as a healer, the bigger the muscle and the more it is trained into these straight lines the bigger the injury is going to be. That's right I said it, the bigger the weight trained muscle - the bigger the injury will be. The weight training isn't bad it just doesn't train all the potential pathways your body can and will take. You end up lopsided. Instead of being protected by the strong muscles you worked so hard to create you accentuate the weaknesses in movement you didn't train. That power from your muscle can easily be driven off course and twisted into a serious injury. Let me state for the record, I'm not against weights. I just suggest that if you do train with weights you want to build upon a strong connection to your body. Real strength is the connection between the mind and the muscle. The best way to build the Body-Mind is moving meditation. Qi Gong the way I teach it is Moving Meditation. Once you unify the mind, breathing, and body nothing can stop you. My students that have had completed 21 days of the Recharging Qi Gong http://rechargingqigong.com know what I am talking about. I hope you will take a leap, join the fun and find out for yourself how to tap into the vital Qi force sleeping inside you! Wishing you the best in Health, Wealth and Happiness, (and strength)
Why lift weights? Many years ago in a Colorado gym I was excited to try out the greatest invention in weight training since the dumb bell or was it? Arthur Jones was the mad scientist behind this creation and it did exactly as its creator designed it to do - put maximum stress on individual muscle groups. We thought the nautilus machine was the pinnacle of the fitness world and with it we would develop anatomically perfect bodies unlike anything previously seen. This was the beginning of high intensity training. And this physique was going to be this way because Jones had devised the perfect torture devices with cams and chains that loaded the weight progressively to put the most strain on the muscle at every position - no cheating or easy strokes - all pain directed at ever muscle fiber from tendon to tendon. We loved it, nothing compared to a nautilus workout, and we would laugh and joke about how we couldn't stand up straight the next day. Still to this day think it's a near perfect design. It blows out the muscle from start to finish at high speed and, if you can take it, sprouts huge muscle growth. So you may ask "Dr. Wu, why then do you no longer train with weights? Is this a bad thing?" The truth is on occasion I will pick up some weights or a friend will convince me to try the latest new weight training machine or fitness device. Well into my sixties, I'm not afraid I'm going to hurt myself or do serious damage because my foundation is in the Non-linier power movements of Qi Gong. It is my Qi Gong that allows me to take on this extra effort. Now that may sound strange to some. How can training without weights enable you to train at an even deeper level with weights? Well for evidence of this I need only point to some of the Russian Olympic power lifters. These dudes spent more time off the weights then on them and took home plenty of gold over the last half century to prove their methods as practical. The movements of body weight training are clean because you are the weight. We are talking about building Strength, Speed, and Power, not just muscle mass. When you focus entirely on weight training you are no longer the center, muscles are then enslaved to linear movements and develop abnormal patterns of movement. What I mean by this is that you will never move your body the way you do when you are strapped into to a weight machine unless you ARE strapped into a weight machine. Life comes in wobbles and jolts, circles and twists, pops and drops. There isn't a single sport that mimics the movements of weight lifting other than weight lifting. So when you build muscles in these linear movements you create muscle competency in straight lines only. Then when you go out in the real world blam you get side swiped with the reality of life in dynamic flow not straight lines. Injury will result. Generally speaking as a healer, the bigger the muscle and the more it is trained into these straight lines the bigger the injury is going to be. That's right I said it, the bigger the weight trained muscle - the bigger the injury will be. The weight training isn't bad it just doesn't train all the potential pathways your body can and will take. You end up lopsided. Instead of being protected by the strong muscles you worked so hard to create you accentuate the weaknesses in movement you didn't train. That power from your muscle can easily be driven off course and twisted into a serious injury. Let me state for the record, I'm not against weights. I just suggest that if you do train with weights you want to build upon a strong connection to your body. Real strength is the connection between the mind and the muscle. The best way to build the Body-Mind is moving meditation. Qi Gong the way I teach it is Moving Meditation. Once you unify the mind, breathing, and body nothing can stop you. My students that have had completed 21 days of the Recharging Qi Gong http://rechargingqigong.com know what I am talking about. I hope you will take a leap, join the fun and find out for yourself how to tap into the vital Qi force sleeping inside you! Wishing you the best in Health, Wealth and Happiness, (and strength)
Why lift weights? Many years ago in a Colorado gym I was excited to try out the greatest invention in weight training since the dumb bell or was it? Arthur Jones was the mad scientist behind this creation and it did exactly as its creator designed it to do - put maximum stress on individual muscle groups. We thought the nautilus machine was the pinnacle of the fitness world and with it we would develop anatomically perfect bodies unlike anything previously seen. This was the beginning of high intensity training. And this physique was going to be this way because Jones had devised the perfect torture devices with cams and chains that loaded the weight progressively to put the most strain on the muscle at every position - no cheating or easy strokes - all pain directed at ever muscle fiber from tendon to tendon. We loved it, nothing compared to a nautilus workout, and we would laugh and joke about how we couldn't stand up straight the next day. Still to this day think it's a near perfect design. It blows out the muscle from start to finish at high speed and, if you can take it, sprouts huge muscle growth. So you may ask "Dr. Wu, why then do you no longer train with weights? Is this a bad thing?" The truth is on occasion I will pick up some weights or a friend will convince me to try the latest new weight training machine or fitness device. Well into my sixties, I'm not afraid I'm going to hurt myself or do serious damage because my foundation is in the Non-linier power movements of Qi Gong. It is my Qi Gong that allows me to take on this extra effort. Now that may sound strange to some. How can training without weights enable you to train at an even deeper level with weights? Well for evidence of this I need only point to some of the Russian Olympic power lifters. These dudes spent more time off the weights then on them and took home plenty of gold over the last half century to prove their methods as practical. The movements of body weight training are clean because you are the weight. We are talking about building Strength, Speed, and Power, not just muscle mass. When you focus entirely on weight training you are no longer the center, muscles are then enslaved to linear movements and develop abnormal patterns of movement. What I mean by this is that you will never move your body the way you do when you are strapped into to a weight machine unless you ARE strapped into a weight machine. Life comes in wobbles and jolts, circles and twists, pops and drops. There isn't a single sport that mimics the movements of weight lifting other than weight lifting. So when you build muscles in these linear movements you create muscle competency in straight lines only. Then when you go out in the real world blam you get side swiped with the reality of life in dynamic flow not straight lines. Injury will result. Generally speaking as a healer, the bigger the muscle and the more it is trained into these straight lines the bigger the injury is going to be. That's right I said it, the bigger the weight trained muscle - the bigger the injury will be. The weight training isn't bad it just doesn't train all the potential pathways your body can and will take. You end up lopsided. Instead of being protected by the strong muscles you worked so hard to create you accentuate the weaknesses in movement you didn't train. That power from your muscle can easily be driven off course and twisted into a serious injury. Let me state for the record, I'm not against weights. I just suggest that if you do train with weights you want to build upon a strong connection to your body. Real strength is the connection between the mind and the muscle. The best way to build the Body-Mind is moving meditation. Qi Gong the way I teach it is Moving Meditation. Once you unify the mind, breathing, and body nothing can stop you. My students that have had completed 21 days of the Recharging Qi Gong http://rechargingqigong.com know what I am talking about. I hope you will take a leap, join the fun and find out for yourself how to tap into the vital Qi force sleeping inside you! Wishing you the best in Health, Wealth and Happiness, (and strength)
Dr. Wu Dhi

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This page contains a single entry by Dr. Wu Dhi published on April 22, 2008 10:16 PM.

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