Now that I am eating healthy, (but not often enough) everyday, I am concentrating on rebuilding my body from the core (inside) outwards.  There is a lot of information floating around the world as to what excercises will make you fit, lean, stronger, flexible or just get your heart and blood pumping to improve overall health.  I typically get bored easy, which makes it more interesting for me to find and do exercise or activities that I enjoy doing for any period of time. 

I’ve decided to focus on working from the core out; which means exercises that can usually be done at home using your own body weight with controlled and concentrated repetitions.  This includes stretching, pushups, situps, body lifts, lateral movements and many other combined excercises with a some fitness props.  Initially I was going to purchase an eliptical machine and some other home gym equipment but decided that if i wanted a gym workout, I would go to the gym and use the best equipment on my body.  For the daily excercise routines I do at home, I’ve collected some simple fitness aids that have been around for a long time and are used regularly in a pilates gym or excercise class. 

In addition to my 3 mile a day (minimum) walk or jog (depending on my energy and motivation levels), here are the things I am doing at home to get healthy and the results I hope to achieve by doing them: 

1. Skipping, using a mini-trampoline or rebounder stimulates the lymphatic system, which consists of millions of tiny channels that parallel our network of blood vessels.  The lymph channels transport fats and other substances around the body and helps with the elimination of waste products from cells. Unlike blood, which has the heart as a pump, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump. It relies on exercise and deep breathing to keep it moving.   I spend alot of time sitting down when I work on my computer or when playing long hours at the poker tables during tournament time.  Additionally, stress causes shallow breathing, which can further reduce lymph flow. The end result is sluggish lymph flow, leading to frequent colds and flu, tiredness, and increased risk of chronic disease.

Skipping is said to be one of the easiest ways to target lymph flow (although any exercise will help).  It takes a bit of getting used to, but I enjoy doing it at home or sometimes at the gym. The mini-trampoline, or rebounder, is another option. Five minutes every morning and night is just enough to get the blood moving without enduring any cardio activity. 

2. Balancing My Workout with calm and controlling excercise

100 year old practices such as tai chi, qi gong or new ones like pilates and yoga improve flexibility and balance. They use breath, mind, and body to restore energy, reduce stress, and calm an agitated mind.

3. Target the Core

The body’s “core” - the area around your trunk and pelvis, including your abs and your low back - is where your center of gravity is located. Targeting these muscles not only gives you toned abs, but they support your low back. Over time, a weak core can make you susceptible to poor posture, low back pain, and be injury prone.  Traditional abs exercises, like sit-ups and crunches, focus on the rectus abdominis, but it’s important to work all the core muscles because one weak area can cause poor posture and make you susceptible to injury. The best core exercises involve moving your limbs while stabilizing your abs.

My favorite tool for working the core muscles is the stability ball. It’s effective because you have to balance on the inflated ball while exercising (it looks like a big beach ball), which engages your core. There are many exercise videos available using the balance ball and I may even throw up some videos one of these days if I get around to it. 

4. Bands and Balls

Resistance bands and exercise, or balance, balls are two effective exercise tools that both work great together.  I’ve been learning dozens of excercises from my fitness consultant and trainer during the past few weeks.  Once I’ve perfected them and seen the results, I will post the “how to” for each excercise and the results associated.

Exercise ball - Performing exercises on an exercise ball enhances flexibility, balance, and co-ordination, and strengthens and tones muscles. Doing exercises on a wobbly ball builds a lean and strong core, which is the key to better posture.

Resistance bands - Resistance bands are another efficient way of exercising. You get more out of the return part of each movement compared to using free weights or machines.

After busting out on Day 4, in a situation I usually get away from, I’ve taken some time to collect my thoughts and reflect on this months WPT event at Foxwoods.   At first I was was stunned, then I was shocked, then I was just angry (at myself) for allowing another players reckless (specifically one) style get into my head and affect my play.  I’d like to tell myself it was unavoidable (denial), I’d like to say I learned a valuable lesson (not the case) and I’d like to forget about all the outside influences and negativity I felt leading up to my demise, but that’s not going to happen either. 

This last week of reflection has given me the time to think about how my body and mind need to work together, as one can easily become stronger than the other.  I’ve been focusing so much on improving my diet and increasing my core body strength through daily exercise that I’ve left parts of my mind behind during the past few months. 

While most of my experiences at Foxwoods were unpleasant and not worth remembering, I did manage to meet a few good people during this WPT event that were helpful (indirectly) for the Five Diamond WPT event coming up at home in the Bellagio.  While I would love to have been in possession of some of the mind exercises I recently learned during my stay at Foxwoods and use it to block out the negative surrounding, it just wasn’t meant to be.   However, now that Foxwoods is over, I think it is necessary for me to spew out all my thoughts that were witheld and harbored during the event; for both my own personal reasons and to give any poker players in the future a heads-up on what to expect when traveling to Foxwoods “Alcatraz” Connecticut.

While I am personally venting to release all the ugly antibodies I picked up during the trip, I am blogging this event with graphic intent and description to remind myself in the future what pitfalls to avoid and start running the other way should I start seeing the signs early on.

This years 2007 WPT Foxwoods Poker Tournament would be best described as the worst poker tournament I’ve ever attended in 17 years.    To fully understand how excrutiating it really was, I am reminded of a popular TV show a few years back called “OZ” on HBO.  Foxwoods is alot like the penitentiary they used to film the show in; it included many good actors (poker players), (in)experienced staff (armed guards), more rules than the detention facility game room and you have no where to go except your 4 X 10 cell (the tournament room was a bit bigger).

To understand the full experience of exactly what kind of racket they are running on the “island” of bad poker tournaments, I will list (in my next entry) some of the most ridiculous rules (of the dozens) I encountered and the related experience….it exhaust’s my patience just to think about them now…

Well, its day 3 and i’m sitting with 271,00 in chips and neither card player magazine or the WPT grunts can get anything right.  I’ve been within the chip race throughout most of the tournament and now I am 11th in chips with 131 players left and they cant spell my name right after telling them at least a half dozen times.  I’m shocked that Barry Shulman actually hires and pays for this kind of help that nobody within this million dollar business can get a players name right.  What’s worse is that they look at me like I have two heads everytime I tell them “you are spelling my name wrong”!

More bad news is that WPT cant seem to get it right either, so unless your name is Barry Greenstein or Freddy Deeb, you are a nobody and they dont care how your birth name is spelled.  At this point, I just want to win the event so that my family can live well and I can express my dissapointment with the Cardplayer and WPT staff.  The friends and few fans that do follow my action are disgusted with the coverage and are frustrated for me. 

My thoughts (which are negative and unwelcomed) during my down time is that I really hate feeling this negative energy and need to figure out a way to overcome it.  I’m doing what I can to force it out, but feel equally as responsible as I’m letting the overall Foxwoods experience get to me, and its affecting my focus.  In my 17 years of playing poker, this is the worst travel and poker tournament I’ve ever participated in…but what do i know?  The media doesnt cover me so I must be non-existant.  I’m going to force myself to block out the bad energy and focus on the positives  I have chips and I’m heading to day 4…I have chips and I’m heading to day 4…I have chips I’m heading to day 4.

It’s been three (3) months and I feel as if I am now mentally prepared for the for the battle or task of living every day life where calories, exercise and the time continuum come into play.  Many of us can acheive the short term gains of extreme diets, short term gimmicks or a week/month long exercise regiment, but what about the rest of the time?  How can we achieve a balance without going underboard (not eating) on the food we like or worse, overboard on the foods we love and have become used to eating?  Many of today’s foods are addictive based (by design) on cravings for a particular ingredient in a food or the simplicity of eating whatever is available in a particular place (work or home) at a particular time (whatever we have time for). What is even more difficult is how to avoid or go against the grain of the environment we live and thrive in on daily basis. 

Good, bad or indifferent, many of us dont have a choice (or think we dont) or havent developed the ”will power” tools to ignore the surroundings that influence our daily routine.  In lew of not using our will power, we fall victim to our environment and simply follow what’s easy, convenient or simply do what others do.  The solutions to all of these issues are available if we practice and train ourselves to use the tools that have been stripped or lulled away by fast food restaurants, marketing gimmicks and the influential media. 

For everyone its different, but there is one common denominator that groups us together; we are all very creative when it comes to fabricating excuses as to why we “cant” change the way things are in our lives.  As a race, we have become who we are by the people we surround ourselves with and our influences (friends, family, support groups).   And, as long as there seems no reason for change then we continue to exist in these groups until we wake up one day and dislike who we’ve become. 

This “victim of our environment” mantality can be changed if we choose to change it.  Its not easy, but it can be done with superior attitude and superior state-of-mind to break the mold that we’ve poured ourselves into.  One moment, one day and one person at a time we can change…I’ve proven it in a short period of time and will continue to evolve the new me.

Research has taken me all kinds of directions these days and I thought this was something wortwhile to post as the body and mind are more connected than we think.

HEALTH and BRAIN DAMAGING HABITS (you should try to avoid)

1. No Breakfast
People who do not eat breakfast typically will have a lower blood sugar level for the rest of the day and will develop chronic low blood sugar levels if continued for long periods of time.  This could further lead to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

10. Talking Rarely - Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain if done on a regular basis.