Sunday, July 31, 2011

JOURNEY/FLASHBACK

Hello and welcome everyone! Right off the top...thanks to the people at "Dimensions of Senior Living expo." I conducted a clinic on "how to play pickleball." The audience was the best ever. Laughs and fun. This blog is dedicated to the "I can't men and women." The year was 2000...I was age 60. I wanted to change my life...get in shape. I started with pushups and situps. Got to 25 in each. Started jogging around a baseball field. From first base the out field and back to third base. I had to walk from 3rd to home to 1st base. Could not jog all the way around. I did this 3 times. 5AM each morning I lifted weights. Two hours a day 7 days a week. Pain,
sweat and coughing. I never looked up. No other goals...just get in shape.
In 2003, I decided to return to college to earn my certification as a personal/athletic trainer. Now I began to set goals. Flashback...in my boyhood years I could run all day. I was always the fastest. Would run to grade school 3 miles each way starting in the 3rd grade. everyone else would ride their bikes. CHALLENGE! When I returned to college the class endurance coach challenged the 19 (avg age)students to beat me in the pushup and situp competition. They were doing (avg) 25 of each in one minute. I did 104 pushups and 87 situps in one minute. Now I had higher goals. Reading all I could about the Senior Olympics and The Masters. I started competing in 2004. Winning gold medals. Competing for other cancer patients. I was driven. This was more than a dream...this was a vision. For details refer to: www.secondwindfitnessfilm.com.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

2,160,000

Hello and welcome everyone! The heat is on! Caution and water are the key words to stay alive. In this weather, muscles can shrink (contract) by as much as 30%. When this happens, we have less oxygen and blood flow to the brain and muscles. Watermelon dialates the blood vessels thereby
allowing more blood and oxygen to flow. One needs to prepare for hot and humid weather long before. I covered this subject in detail in a previous blog. Today, I want to talk about "investment of time" in our fitness and exercise workouts. Workouts take on more significance for
competitors. I point toward my next event or phase. Fear drives me...fear
in what my competition is doing in their workouts. I'm a sprinter...anything over 400m, I take a cab. I workout two hours a day, six days a week. That's 120 minutes a day, 36,000 minutes in a year (50
weeks). That's 2,160,000 seconds in a year. In track and field, when I am
competing, I have to sprint in under 14 sec. in the 100m and under 32 sec. in the 200m and under 72 sec. in the 400m. At first glance, one might think, that's way out of proportion. The reward makes the investment worthwhile...for me anyway. I sprint for cancer patients and
survivors...I am competing for those who cannot. By the way, the above
math does not include the 15 one hour fitness classes I conduct each week. The word fun needs to be in your workouts. Next week...the
beginning of my climb.

Have a great and meaningful life everyone! Jimmy O
Reference: www.secondwindfitnessfilm.com
www.jimmyo.stemtechbiz.com

Sunday, July 17, 2011

THE CLIMB

Hello and welcome everyone! Over the past 50 years, every Friday, I make out my schedule for the next week on a 8 by 11 sheet of paper. At the very top I write out the title for that week. This week the title is " the
climb to the top." This helps me to stay focused on what needs to be done. I am conditioning my brain to succeed. More people condition themselves
to fail, rather than succeed...that's their comfort zone. They have rehearsed their suitcase full of excuses. Take a look at people waiting for
their tax returns...as soon as the check arrives, it is spent...conditioned to
fail. "I compete just for the fun of it." That's like saying, "I go to work just
for the fun of it. I don't care if I get paid or not." Friday night at the grocery store...you are racing for the checkout and are cut off by half a
dozen "Indy Seniors", "excuse me I want to be first." I conduct 15 fitness
classes a week and no one has said,"I'm here just for the fun of it." I watch them play soccer and dodgeball. Mary Decker Tab, from the US
and one of the world's great 1500m runners (about 40 years ago) said
this..."long before I race I think about how I'm going to run, but above all
I think about winning the race." If you have a passion for something, you
visualize yourself being there. You begin to act and behave as though you
were already there. First to the Finish Line...where winners and survivors
always meet.

Have a great and meaningful life everyone! JimmyO
Reference: www.secondwindfitnessfilm.com
www.jimmyo.stemtechbiz.com

Sunday, July 10, 2011

HEED WARNINGS!

Hello and welcome everyone! We can either heed the mental warnings or
sluff them off. When is it too late to do something? Each individual will have to address that. We need to address our mental toughness daily. The warning signs...you don't follow your workout schedule, cut workouts short, alarm clock becomes a nuisance, hunger, tired all the time, other
excuses and that word, depression. And one more...denial. When you feel these signs...CHANGE your routine, schedule and pattern. Even stop training for a few days. Don't become your own victim. Trick your brain. We trick our muscles, why not our brain. Value and appreciate your brain power. I have a saying, "water the flower, before it dies." I have talked to
top flight athletes who have experienced the above symptoms. Their reply, TAKE ACTION, don't wait. The power of the brain, don't waste it.
Have a great and meaningful life everyone! Jimmy O
Reference: www.secondwindfitnessfilm.com
www.jimmyo.stemtechbiz.com
Email: sprint444@hotmail.com

Sunday, July 3, 2011

LANDMARK FINISH!

Hello and welcome everyone! Happy 4th! "Prep time " is all the time. When I question people about when they compete...I will ask them, "what
thoughts did you have the day before and a few hours before you competed?" NO ONE talks about the FINISH and very few mention the START. On the day I compete, I look for "landmarks" I can easily spot . Then I pay close attention to the finish line. What landmark will help me when I need to lean. In the sprints...that first step and the lean
accounts for 20% of the race. Seems like alot...perhaps. Whether you are a sprinter, long distance or biking...KNOW where you are. Knowing that will help you win more races.That is why you compete..isn't it.

Have a great and meaningful life everyone! Jimmy O
Reference: www.secondwindfitnessfilm.com
www.jimmyo.stemtechbiz.com
Email: sprint444@hotmail.com