After I was out of the spotlight, I thought about my answer and realized that it really wasn’t that good of an answer.  On Monday, I was doing The Bathroom Workout, that I posted the other day, and I realized my definition of fitness.

Fitness to me is the ability to live a long life while still being able to move easily.

I see so many older people who loose their ability to do simple things like bend down to tie their shoes or they cannot learn over to pick something up off the floor.  These are people used to be able to do these things with ease but no longer can.  One of the reasons that I workout so much is to keep my body moving.  I was once told that body movement is life and I believe it.

I believe that mobility is a big part of both physical and mental fitness.  When the body is moving vigorously, like when we exercise, blood is flowing throughout it, oxygen intake is increased, the mind is more focused, the lymphatic system is flowing, stress is reduced among other good things that have a positive impact on the body.  That to me is fitness.

Please tell me your definition of fitness by leaving a comment below.

I took a quick walk to the bathroom to put some water on my face and while I was standing in front of the mirror, I did 15 body-weight squats and 20 counter top pushups.  This immediately woke me up, cleared my head and brought my focus back in seconds.  I did this four or five time throughout my day and each and every time I did it, I had the same great results.

If you try this at your work, make sure that the bathroom floor isn’t wet and that would do not slip when doing the squats.  The reason that I didn’t do regular pushups is because I was not putting my hands on the bathroom floor.  I did the counter top pushups by putting my hands on the edge of the sink counter and my feet stayed on the floor.

Some people might think you have some type of intestinal or bladder issue but only you will know that your are getting in better shape and clearing your mind every time you walk into the bathroom.

The workout consisted of  3 minutes and 20 seconds on the timer.   It was 8 rounds of 20 seconds with 5 seconds rest.

1. Jumping Squats and Push ups – Both partners did jumping squats for 20 seconds and then moved into push ups for 20 more seconds.
2. Reverse pull Ups and Dumbbell Presses – One partner did reverse pull ups (reverse pull up is an exercise where you lay on your back under a smith machine or a barbell on a rack with 3-4 inches of space between your back and the floor when your arms are fully extended while holding on to the bar.  I also had them put their heels an a bench and throughout the movement, you try to keep you body straight like board) while the other did dumbbell presses.
3. Triceps Pushdowns and Dumbbell Curls – one partner did Triceps pushdows while the other did dumbbell curls.
4. Standing Reverse Barbell Wrist Curls and Standing wrist curls behind the back – One partner did this superset for all 8 rounds then the other did their 8 rounds.
5. Captains Chair Knee Raises and Legs Up Crunches – As one partner did knee raises the other did legs up crunches (For this movement, you lay on your back, bend your knee and pick your feet up off the floor.  From there you crunch your upper body up and bring your knees in closes to your chest).

This is an intense workout that can be done in a fairly short time.  You might need to take a little extra rest time between supersets to recover.  You can easily substitute other movements for those above.

Let me know if you try this workout and how you like it.

I don’t recall who said it but it was something along the lines of “movement is life” and I would assume that the opposite would be “no movement is death.”   I would also guess that back in the days of the cavemen, if they sat around too long in one place, they would become lunch for a hungry dinosaur.

How many of you notice, when you are moving and exercising, you feel alive and loose but if you sit in a chair too long, you feel stiff and drained.  I would guess that a lot of us more worldly adults feel the same way.  If I sit in a chair or on the couch for just 30 minutes my entire body feels stiff, especially my legs and when I go to get up, I make the old man groan.

Over the last few months, I started getting up at least every 30 to 60 minutes just to move around.  As soon as I feel my neck start to tighten up or my upper back get stiff, I stand up and walk around the room.  Sometimes, I will do something as simple as very slow body weight squats or standing knee raises to get the blood flowing.  I have also found that this really helps my focus and gets me back to what I was working on with more energy.

The key to this idea is just getting up.  You can use different movements with your three to five minute break.  You can do the knee raises or squats but you can also do arm circles, lateral raises or even just stretch.  Just get out of that chair and move, that’s all it takes.

Give it try and leave me a comment if you find this useful or want to share your experience.

Even though I have been working out for over 30 years, I still have those days where I just do not feel like training.  After thinking about this problem, I have found a really simple way to satisfy my desire to workout every day.

For example, I told myself a long time ago, if I practice Karate, specifically kata, each day, I will improve.  The problem is that I found many excuses not to train every day.  If I missed a day, I would try to do twice as much the next day but my form suffered and it made me want to train even less.  I had to break this pattern so I gave myself a very simple goal.  Instead of telling myself that I had to do five or 10 katas each day, I told myself that I only have to do one kata per day.  Anyone has the time and energy to do at least one kata per day.  I even told myself that I can do any kata I choose from the most basic kata to the most advanced that I know.  The interesting thing that happened here is that once I did one kata, I ended up doing more.  Since I was already there and warmed up, why not do another?  And another?  And sometimes another or more.  The simplest kata that I do can be done in less than one minute, even doing it in slow motion and surely I could give my Karate one minute a day, right?  The one minute often turns into 10, 20, 30 or even 60 minutes, not because I have to do it, but because I want to do it.  Before I start my kata, I warm up and then do my stretching, which is another goal that I have to stretch at least once per day, and one kata leads to two and so on.  Once the momentum starts, it is hard to stop and I don’t stop until I feel that I am no longer improving.

Here are some other ways to apply the same concept.  Instead of putting off working out, you can do some simple things at home or even in the office, while watching TV or sitting in front of the computer.  I am sure you can find one minute to do some crunches or push ups, right?  Or maybe some body weight squats or if you are already in good shape, some burpees.  You don’t have to go to the gym, you can do this in front of your couch, next to your desk or almost anywhere but the key is actually doing it.  After a short time you find that doing those 10-20 crunches is easy or doing those 10 push ups didn’t take any time at all so now you start to do more.  It becomes addictive and pretty soon you are looking forward to your workout and you want to do more.  Soon you will find that one minute turns into five minutes, then five turns into 10 and so on.  Instead of one exercise, you might add another one or two or three.

The key here is to be faithful to your original goal.  If you set your goal and tell yourself that you are going to do 10 good push ups a day, make sure that you do 10 good push ups each day, no matter what.  That is the deal that you have to make with yourself and you have to be totally dedicated to it or this won’t work.  Don’t make goals or promises that you cannot keep so keep them simple.

So what are you waiting for?  Set your goal, go do your workout and leave me a comment if this works for you.

There are many websites loaded with excellent fitness information but I started this website to share my training experience related to Martial Arts, specifically Shotokan Karate.  When I first started learning Karate in 2004, there was not much workout information available that applied specifically to Karate or the Martial Arts.  Even now, after five years, much of the Karate and Martial Arts workout information is adapted from other sports or modified body building routines.

I have found that working out like a body builder, like I did for close to 25 years, was counter productive to my Karate training.  I was developing my muscles but I didn’t have the functional strength and range of motion that I needed to make my Karate training successful.

So who am I and why should you read what I am typing here.  My name is Doug Wojtczak and I am a certified ISSA Personal Trainer.  I have been lifting weights for over 30 years and have been involved in Karate for over five years.  I am currently coaching three up and coming Karate Champions with Karate specific workouts.   The first is an adult, up and coming international kata champion, the second is a teenage state level kata champion and the third is the current Senior female National Kata and Kumite champion.

Be sure to stay tuned because I have some exciting plans for this website that I want to share with you.

Doug Wojtczak - Certified ISSA Trainer