April 6, 2007

Exercise of the Day: Dumbbell Chest Press on Exercise Ball

Using your exercise ball as a bench or platform for traditional exercises is a great way to build up your core stability while at the same time increasing your levels of neuromuscular coordination.

Be sure to visit Fitness Generator to get access to thousands of exercise graphics as well as instructions on using bodyweight, dumbbells, resistance bands, and more!

Dumbbell Chest Press on Exercise Ball
Dumbbell Chest Press on Exercise Ball
A common mistake when doing this exercise is to rest the small of your back against the ball, which eliminates much of the core stabilizing effect. Instead, rest only your shoulders on the ball, and be sure to use your core muscles to keep the rest of your body parallel to the floor throughout the entire exercise. Also, if you've done the Dumbbell Chest Press on a standard bench DO NOT use the same weight on an exercise ball, since you will not be able to lift as much weight on the unstable surface.

Wonder Twin Powers - ACTIVATE!

Okay, I know I am dating myself by even posting that title, but if you know what it means, then you can consider yourself dated as well! Smile

However, for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, here is a brief primer, to be followed by how modern society can use this power for our own benefit.

Back in the {ahem} late 70's, one of the most popular cartoons that featured Superman was called The All-New SuperFriends Hour. It was a remake of the original SuperFriends, and it featured a few new characters, including Zan and Jayna, also known as The Wonder Twins.

The Wonder Twins had the power to transform themselves into various animals or watery creations in order to help save the day, as it were. To do this, they had to physically touch each other and say the words - you guessed it - Wonder Twin Powers - ACTIVATE!

It was all very exciting and entertaining, and the takeaway that I want you to remember is that they could only use their powers if they worked together!

Individually, they were just aliens with a pet monkey called Gleek.

So, why is that relevant to anyone who reads this blog seeking self improvement or personal development?

Simple - not only can everyone get help by also helping others, but by referring to the usage of the Law of Attraction, the more people who focus on something, the more powerful the affect becomes.

A now famous doctor named Masaru Emoto realized that large groups of people - working together - who focused on various bodies of water at the same time could effect actual vibrational change on that water by offering feelings of gratitude and love towards it.

Check out details of the on-going experiments in that area at the Love and Thanks to Water website.

The human body is comprised almost exclusively of water. Hmmmm…that brings up possibilities, doesn't it?

Now, whether or not you choose to believe in the large-scale effect that human emotions can have on the world around us, there is no denying that this process exists on a smaller scale.

Consider the following:

1) If there is disharmony in your household, and both parents decide that they are going to stop yelling, start being more patient, and start being more understanding, the tension and stress-level in that household goes down almost immediately.

Compare that to what happens if those parents agree to that course of action, but only one of them follows through on the intention.

2) Think of what happens in the workplace when a team of 8 or 10 project workers all get together and decide that they are going clean up their customer service practices, start showing a positive attitude in all aspects of their job, and begin to put focus exclusively on the "greater good".

Compare that to an empowering and uplifting company meeting that leaves everyone ecstatic to even work there, but then a week later each of those employees has gone back to the exact same daily practices and attitudes that they had used previously.

3) Think of a night out on the town when you and 5 of your friends decide that you are going to go out and have fun no matter what, and you are all simply joyous and grateful to be out together taking some well-deserved time off.

Compare that to what happens on that same night on the town when half of your group does nothing but moan and complain about how much they hate their job, how their spouse is being a jerk, and how their kids can't ever seem to stay out of trouble.

In each of these examples (and any other example you can imagine), when each of the participants made an honest, heart-felt, and consistent effort to focus on the positive, then positive results came to all of them on a massive scale, including all of the people who interacted with them.

Coincidence? Hardly.

Feelings are the key to this process, so if you can't muster up the actual emotions of whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish, you might as well not even bother trying.

Saying that you are going to focus on a positive home atmosphere doesn't do a bit of good unless you actually create the feelings - on a consistent basis - of positivity, patience, and understanding.

Saying that you are going to create a positive working environment where the customers, the company, and the employees all benefit will do nothing unless you consistently feel positive and act from a positive mental point of view.

Saying that you and your friends are going to have fun, but then failing to feel stress-free, joyous, and happy to be there will fail to create a stress-free, joyous, and happy environment.

Although it is 100% true that you are only responsible for your own feelings at any single moment in time, it is just as true that if one person feels good, and then another, and another, and another, the effect will multiply exponentially.

So, if you want to sit inside a self-imposed shell of "it's all about ME," you do have the power to be ecstatically happy inside that one little shell.

However, why not break out of the shell and share your ability to consciously create joy and gratitude with others who also choose to exercise that ability?

What have you got to lose?