rickhull · January 15, 2020 00:19
diff --git a/gistfile1.txt b/gistfile1.txt
 gggI trained Aikido for many years. About the third year, I began a very basic rings routine coupled with running two miles per day. The running meant I no longer ran out of breath during class unless I was testing. The rings meant my hip speed was faster than ever before and I could counter just about every attack with a level of comfort I never had before the rings.

 Because my core was so stable and strong, when I turned my hips, my feet and shoulders moved at the same time, like a door. Long lanky me became super quick for the first time in my life. Better shape and posture than in college basketball. Still skinny, but deceptively strong, even at extreme angles.

 No injuries to shoulders and a chronic back pain between my shoulder blades went away (shiatsu also played a roll in the pain going away).

 What was my ring routine? Dead hangs every day, adding a second a day (that's all; one second) until I could hang for two minutes. This took a few months. 

 Then I started over with one arm dead hangs until each arm could hang comfortably for two minutes.

 Now, my connective tissues throughout my shoulders, spine, and hips were strong. Not just the muscles; the connective tissues, which are the typical injury sites because muscles grow strong faster than connective tissues. This took a few more months. Let's call it six months total.

 Then I started kicking up to inverted and holding that position. Hands were by hips, dead hanging the shoulders in the reverse direction. This went on for a month and then I began to invert; i.e. lower my legs past my face until my shoulders were heading towards the dislocate form. It took two months to stretch and strengthen everything so that I could hang straight down, more or less, in the dislocate position, and then drop to the ground.

 A month or so later, it was time to pull up from the hanging dislocate back to the vertical hang position. Eventually, it was knees straight, toes pointed, and one smooth motion from hanging dislocate to vertical dead hang. This is the classic skin the cat move. Gymnasts can do this with ease. You aren't a gymnast; don't forget how many years those gymnasts worked to make it look that easy. If you try that, you'll likely injure something, maybe pull an ab muscle. Those whole kinetic chain must be strong.

 This routine will give your shoulders and core the resilience you need to progress in your sport. It's not just strength; it's resilience. Specifically, when some intermediate student gets you in an arm bar between their legs and is starting to crank, you will have control over the stresses going through your shoulder and avoid injury while telling the dipstick to slow down and be smooth with their training partners. It was always the intermediate students that caused the most injuries to others.

 If you hit the rings hard, focusing only on strength, you'll set yourself up to tear your connective tissues. You'll get very strong in your muscles and surpass the strength of your connective tissues.

 If you use the rings to purposely strengthen your connective tissues through their largest range of motion, you will also build the coordination across your back and hips that will make your techniques faster and more effortless, while protecting you from the brown belts of the world with something to prove and no awareness of someone else's joints until they feel them tap out.

 Think about this: for less than five minutes a day on the rings, you can eliminate a broad category of injuries from your future in your sport. This means you can train more consistently and effectively because you aren't compensating for injuries part of the training time. That's five minutes every day. You're building a new normal, not trying to maximize performance. This strength and ROM will be available to you for everything. It is delightfully fun.

 Keep in mind that all training is specific. Doing dumbbell curls in front of your chest is not building the same strength and coordination as doing dumbbell curls at the side. But there are crossovers. This is why cross training on the rings benefits your ground game. You still, however, have to practice your ground game.

 I'm 67. Rings do not train away joint pain. Genetics and mileage and diet and life will overcome your best efforts in your youth. If you keep training, you can minimize some pains. I had to replace my hip joints because of arthritic deformation of the bones. Yeah, that's not an injury; it's a degenerative disease. 

 Don't fall for a false sense of immortality. I've had boating accidents that screwed up my back and neck so bad I could not walk on my own, and had a shiatsu master take all of that pain away in ten minutes. I was standing and walking and laughing without pain in ten minutes. That's not a cure for cancer and that master said the same to everyone. It's a common occurrence for someone to experience something they don't understand and extrapolate it into a miracle cure. Putting in the time to understand how it works is even more satisfying, tho, than leaving it to miracles.

 Do train with purpose and understanding. Stay real. Stay curious. Avoid injury so you don't waste calendar time. You'll never be as young as you are today again. Enjoy this.
	gggI trained Aikido for many years. About the third year, I began a very basic rings routine coupled with running two miles per day. The running meant I no longer ran out of breath during class unless I was testing. The rings meant my hip speed was faster than ever before and I could counter just about every attack with a level of comfort I never had before the rings.

	Because my core was so stable and strong, when I turned my hips, my feet and shoulders moved at the same time, like a door. Long lanky me became super quick for the first time in my life. Better shape and posture than in college basketball. Still skinny, but deceptively strong, even at extreme angles.

	No injuries to shoulders and a chronic back pain between my shoulder blades went away (shiatsu also played a roll in the pain going away).

	What was my ring routine? Dead hangs every day, adding a second a day (that's all; one second) until I could hang for two minutes. This took a few months.

	Then I started over with one arm dead hangs until each arm could hang comfortably for two minutes.

	Now, my connective tissues throughout my shoulders, spine, and hips were strong. Not just the muscles; the connective tissues, which are the typical injury sites because muscles grow strong faster than connective tissues. This took a few more months. Let's call it six months total.

	Then I started kicking up to inverted and holding that position. Hands were by hips, dead hanging the shoulders in the reverse direction. This went on for a month and then I began to invert; i.e. lower my legs past my face until my shoulders were heading towards the dislocate form. It took two months to stretch and strengthen everything so that I could hang straight down, more or less, in the dislocate position, and then drop to the ground.

	A month or so later, it was time to pull up from the hanging dislocate back to the vertical hang position. Eventually, it was knees straight, toes pointed, and one smooth motion from hanging dislocate to vertical dead hang. This is the classic skin the cat move. Gymnasts can do this with ease. You aren't a gymnast; don't forget how many years those gymnasts worked to make it look that easy. If you try that, you'll likely injure something, maybe pull an ab muscle. Those whole kinetic chain must be strong.

	This routine will give your shoulders and core the resilience you need to progress in your sport. It's not just strength; it's resilience. Specifically, when some intermediate student gets you in an arm bar between their legs and is starting to crank, you will have control over the stresses going through your shoulder and avoid injury while telling the dipstick to slow down and be smooth with their training partners. It was always the intermediate students that caused the most injuries to others.

	If you hit the rings hard, focusing only on strength, you'll set yourself up to tear your connective tissues. You'll get very strong in your muscles and surpass the strength of your connective tissues.

	If you use the rings to purposely strengthen your connective tissues through their largest range of motion, you will also build the coordination across your back and hips that will make your techniques faster and more effortless, while protecting you from the brown belts of the world with something to prove and no awareness of someone else's joints until they feel them tap out.

	Think about this: for less than five minutes a day on the rings, you can eliminate a broad category of injuries from your future in your sport. This means you can train more consistently and effectively because you aren't compensating for injuries part of the training time. That's five minutes every day. You're building a new normal, not trying to maximize performance. This strength and ROM will be available to you for everything. It is delightfully fun.

	Keep in mind that all training is specific. Doing dumbbell curls in front of your chest is not building the same strength and coordination as doing dumbbell curls at the side. But there are crossovers. This is why cross training on the rings benefits your ground game. You still, however, have to practice your ground game.

	I'm 67. Rings do not train away joint pain. Genetics and mileage and diet and life will overcome your best efforts in your youth. If you keep training, you can minimize some pains. I had to replace my hip joints because of arthritic deformation of the bones. Yeah, that's not an injury; it's a degenerative disease.

	Don't fall for a false sense of immortality. I've had boating accidents that screwed up my back and neck so bad I could not walk on my own, and had a shiatsu master take all of that pain away in ten minutes. I was standing and walking and laughing without pain in ten minutes. That's not a cure for cancer and that master said the same to everyone. It's a common occurrence for someone to experience something they don't understand and extrapolate it into a miracle cure. Putting in the time to understand how it works is even more satisfying, tho, than leaving it to miracles.

	Do train with purpose and understanding. Stay real. Stay curious. Avoid injury so you don't waste calendar time. You'll never be as young as you are today again. Enjoy this.