Flab control

The winter is always my most challenging season for training. I hate getting up in the dark, my asthma is always at its worst, and without a serious motivation (like getting ready for a black belt test), doing the kind of training I'm used to doing in the warmer months is really hard. I get to the dojang as often as I can, and that helps maintain a certain level of fitness and technical aptitude, but my training regimen outside the school takes a serious nose dive, leading to a flabby centre, and an ever tightening waistline of my pants.


This also has the effect of depressing me mentally – I set unrealistic expectations for my performance, don't meet them, and then feel bad about it, which in turn makes me even less motivated (vicious cycle anyone?). So, in response, I've made some decisions: First, revise my expectations. From November to April, I will focus on technical improvement and curriculum mastery (this has been helped along tremendously by some special Monday morning classes that my master is giving for me and another senior student).

Second, for this time period, rather than set goals I'm not going to reach for outdoor cardio activities, I will instead concentrate on the four fundamental body weight exercises for physical fitness:

push ups

pull ups

pistol squats

plank

We'll see where I am in March with this. Third, I'm restarting my journal, and am doing a much better job of making writing it a habit. Finally, once the weather warms up, and we start to see the sun a bit more often, its back out on the road I go…