You what mate?! Replied a long-forgotten cockney accent. “The gentleman: that mannered, a la mode dude, well turned out but restrained.” The PUALifestyle team, although we enjoy the use of vivaciously varied vocabulary do not take well to ponsey poofy poop.  What he was trying to say is that THE GENTLEMAN IS BACK. It means that fashion for men has returned once again to the undefeated classics of simplistic, mature colors and threads.

Splendid stuff in my opinion. This makes shopping choices much easier as now there are only four choices of color to choose from: black, grey, brown and navy. I asked He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named to elaborate on what exactly the concept of Gentleman encompasses. He explained that the old styles “will be vanquished by an army of gracious men in classically cut jackets, half Windsor knots and, of course, pants. Retiree chic will fade. Men will be reminded that they look better in suits than they do in misguided cardigans.”

Translated: Buy a suit. Or better still: Buy a tailored three-piece suit (like this guy). I had to wear a suit for the last two years of my education and there was something swish about sliding on a fitting jacket. Girls loved it, bar tenders thought I was of age, jobs accepted me on the spot and swear words were vanquished as they just seemed wrong.

Sadly though a suit isn’t quite backpackers apparel so they have been left hanging behind my bedroom door for over a year now. Yet this got me thinking, a large majority of the PUALifestyle Forum are guys in college and you’re hardly going to wear a suit out in Fresher’s week or to a Fraternity alcohol filled gathering are you? A teenager in a suit is just asking to be beaten up. So Mr GQ of Oz, what are those of us who haven’t got professional jobs yet going to do?

“Gentle-manliness is obviously a matter of more than mere dress. The better man isn’t the one flashing the spiffier boutonniere. (In fact, if you stuff a flower in your lapel, you’re going to have to work extra hard to convince people you’re not a bit of an ass.) Chivalry, etiquette, some ingrained personal code – they’re all part of the composite.”

He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named had just stated that a fashion trend can follow without wearing the fashion. Bizarre, but understandable. To be a Gentleman you can’t just rock up to any old joint in a suit. You have to know the Top Ten Dating Manners first. You must walk the walk to talk the talk to act the part. He continued,

“One thing that links gentlemen together, across the ages or the cubical wall, is that you just kind of shut up about it. In a tell-all age, why not distinguish yourself with a little restraint? Actions speak, but in the place of pitching your coat every time a lady approaches a puddle, we have clothing for the purpose of sending out quiet messages. ”

Yet I wanted to know what this clothing apparently was for a young guy in a social environment – one full of Jaeger Bombs and Majito’s. The answer was quite simple, and I’d like to take you through the same exercise I was. Think back to the 70′s, imagine what they wore then: flared trousers with shirt collars up. Now the 80′s, introducing Nylon: Bright colors and printed designs a.k.a. the tracksuit. Now the 90′s, bit more mixed up here with denim jeans taking different shapes and t-shirts. And now? What do all the guys wear around you now? Unless you’re in a specific niche of style, the answer will most probably be a (t-)shirt and jeans.

Fashion trends tend to take the opposite of the norm with some restrictions. The casual Gentleman then wears trousers. Not jeans, not shorts, not chords, but trousers. Brown, beige (chino’s), navy or grey. You can wear suit trousers too, but actually when I went shopping yesterday, I was surprised to find that there are a huge amount of normal trousers for sale relatively inexpensive.

“Try wearing a rollo-neck jumper this Autumn.”

I must admit that at first I muffled a laugh at this, imagining myself wearing a black rollo-neck with chino’s and looking identical to Will from Will & Grace. Then He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named whipped out the latest copy of GQ Australia and showed me what he had in mind. There on the page stood a guy with chino’s and a similar coloured rollo-neck with a Gucci pattern on the front. This guy not only looked good, sophisticated (a beefcake) and cool, but actually like a Gentleman. It is possible to be a Gentleman in terms of fashion without wearing a suit whilst young and in a rowdy environment.

I’m embracing this advice upon my return to England, fighting through an addiction to denim jeans: Bootcut, skinny and straight-leg. However I refuse to wear brown loafers or black work shoes yet choosing instead my high-tops which are just sick. This is the first of hopefully many fashion-orientated blog posts for PUALifestyle, and I hope you have enjoyed reading it as I did meeting Mr GQ of Oz, and writing the encounter up.

Please let us know what you think of this article by commenting and discussing in the forum. You can discuss it here too.

No doubt, journals are crucial. After I recorded the video Clarity in 2009 (mind the bad lighting for this one), I received some emails specifically about the journal part. Like I said in the video, I understood the importance of journals, but I wasn’t necessarily using it to its full potential. This article explains how I made transition, it’s pretty lengthy (2956 words), but it’s worth reading it. It took me almost 7 hours to finish it. If you don’t have the time to finish it now, feel free to print it out and take it for reading somewhere else.

I first began to journal with the Lifestyle Challenge that Ian Smith and I created almost a year ago. Later, I was reminded of it when I attended a seminar hosted by SUCCESS magazine (excellent event). I actually got a free ‘Jim Rohn Leadership’ journal there and I began to jot down thoughts, ideas, and emotions on it; but after a while, I grew less motivated to do handwriting. So I moved on to computer journal and I started my journal in a Word document, but still I lacked a bit of discipline in keeping up with it, although both forms DID help me bring more clear answers to the questions that before wandered in my head without answers, or sometimes, questions that I asked other people, yet their answer wouldn’t satisfy me. But when I really started getting the hang of it (you never get the hang of it the first time), I started asking questions in such a way that I would answer my own questions, either as I wrote, or later on in a sudden moment. (By the way, now I use Google documents, it is much easier to keep up with and it allows you to do an easy ‘Search’ function.)

There is some sort of magic that takes place when you ask yourself well-worded questions – well, it’s really the beauty of the mind and body. These well-worded questions not only help you connect with yourself, but also to really connect with others. We have a journal section in our forum that members use to track their progress or tell a particular story. And it won’t take too many questions to ask so that you know that the use of a journal is incredibly efficient. For one, many of them share that writing their story made them realize something they hadn’t realized before. Second, one member’s journal entry can be read by others, making them closer and also, seeing a real life experience (it’s a lot easier to learn that way, instead of the ‘do this, do that’). I think it’s safe to say that in this forum, members know each other better than in any other . Now, let’s explore what well-worded questions are, and why they are so efficient.

Well-Worded Questions

The first thing we need to realize is that well-worded questions do not give immediate answers. In fact, most of your initial answers will only serve to clear up that which doesn’t work. Well-worded questions are true seekers. They find what is true for you. You can also use well-worded questions or well-worded statements to make someone else find what’s true for them, and you watch, they will love you. Only you can ask yourself these questions. You WILL meet some great people who will ask you great well-worded questions and will change your perspective completely, but that will not always happen. For most of your life, it has to be you who does it. Yes, there will be a point where you can ask questions to others that are so deep, that will have powerful realizations, but it all must begin with you.

Second, these questions take some time, do not give up. At the beginning you will ask questions that are not so appealing, but with time you will ask yourself some killer questions. You must immerse yourself into your journal. You will feel silly at the beginning, but that will evolve, sometimes in the course of 5 minutes, sometimes in the course of 5 days. For instance at the beginning, I asked myself ‘How can I make this routine work?’, but of course, I didn’t find any inspiration for the answer, yet as I kept writing, the questions evolved to ‘Why a routine?’, ‘What makes a routine work’?, ‘Can I use something else besides it’?, ‘Why am I so worried about making this work?’, ‘Why do I want it to work?’, ‘What will I accomplish if it works?’, ‘If it works, is it fulfilling’? you know the rest of the story. It’s a funny feeling, really. When you begin writing these questions, you actually find it a bit hard to stop at times and others, hard to continue – keep going, the answer will pop up. Here are some questions directly pulled out from my journal. It is safe to assume that the wording of these questions are appealing to me. And they may not be appealing to you, but they will get the point across.

I began with these questions

Are the people in my life real?
Am I being completely honest with them?
I want a beautiful girlfriend with a certain number of traits. What are those traits?
Am I being thoughtful to my friends?
Am I being as human as I can be?
Am I constantly seeking to make friends?
Why am I so focused on making friends?
I have to talk to more people. Attend to more events. And be THERE.
What do I want my life to be like? What do I want my life NOT to be like?
Am I understanding people more each day?
Am I identifying with them?
Am I being true to my family? Am I calling them enough? And doing enough for them? Am I being a good son? A good brother? A good role model?
Am I ready to commit?

Here is how they evolved

* How can I be completely honest with people? Why do I need to be honest with people? What will be the consequences if I’m not honest with them?
* How can I meet AND keep the woman I will deeply fall in love with?
* How can I be more thoughtful to them? What are some good and simple ways to show appreciation to them? ‘Thank you’ cards, random text messages wishing them a great day or good luck on their exam when they are not expecting it, an email with an e-card that makes the smile, treat them to a nice dinner every now and then.
* How is one more human? How does one get rid of the masks we are conditioned to have? What will happen if I’m not human? What will happen as I become as human as I can be?
* I wanted to seek to make friends, why? How will I make friends? What traits do I want these friends to have? How will I keep a great friend? What will be the nature of a friend relationship? It’s clearly not someone who only comes to see you when there is a beer at home. How then?
* How can I understand people more? What questions or statements I can make to understand them more? To get to know them more? To get them to trust me? How will I know once they have understood me? What will happen when I have the ability to understand people more? What will happen if I don’t?

The list goes on, but I’ll cut it off there for now, or the article will be too long. I think you can see some notorious differences. The first entry was a sort of auto-evaluation, it’s a way of getting in touch with truth. It will help you figure out where you stand. This is not science, by the way. You don’t have to be a super genius to answer those questions, but you do have to trust your instinct. Don’t sabotage yourself over the answers either. I wrote the answers separately, of course. Those answers (some that can come in writing, others come in your head in an instant) led me to write down other questions, better questions. And as I wrote those questions, more interesting things happened. What happened? I got answers. And these answers gave me me a clarity that I hadn’t felt before. I’m more driven. I’m more determined. And I gotta tell you, while the journal didn’t do it all by itself, it certainly was one of the most influential parts of it.

Note: It is obvious to assume, that you must use your own questions.

By the way, it doesn’t always have to be those kind of ‘generic questions’. You can also apply them for whatever instant moment you want. For example, in sales, there is this saying that goes “He said something, but he was saying something completely different”. This simply means, someone can say something, but they mean something completely different. Well, I kept asking myself “How can I figure out what he is saying, instead of what he says?”, there were plenty of answers that begun with the list of patterns on the movements every prospect would make. So I wrote those down, then I wrote down how I worded the questions I asked (I must say sometimes we don’t realize how poorly we ask questions), and then I begun to see patterns that allowed me a bit of more success and understanding in sales. It’s the same with the opposite sex, especially women *cough*. Write down your questions, and stay on them until your questions are so powerful and specific that you can not help but to be inspired by them.

The Answers to your questions

If you thought the questions were tricky, wait until you try to come up with your own answers. It can be a lot trickier and a lot more frustrating. For instance, once I wrote this question “Why is it that I stop trying when I see something getting away from me?”. This was not really the proudest moment in my life, but I share it here because I know there will a be reader or two who can relate to this question. The answers that came up at first were vague. They were usual one-liners. ‘I’m scared’, ‘I’m not used to this’, ‘Maybe I don’t have interest’, and obviously none of the answers felt right. I remember this particular question took me days to figure out. I would write and think about it, often. More often than usual. The answer came to me one day when I asked my dearest friend “Tell me one thing about me that I probably don’t know”. She took a couple of seconds to make up her mind and study my face and she calmly said “I think… that when you commit to a relationship, your vulnerability will show and you will become weak. That’s why you don’t commit to many. Other people may buy it, but not me”. I had my answer.

That answer by my friend was key. I can clearly remember saying “She told me this and how true is that? She probably knows me better than I know myself, how many things about myself am I not aware? How could she know this? What experiences have we had that can lead her to this conclusion?” Well, we did date shortly and later slept together several times, not just that, but we’ve had those intelligent conversations often. So she does know me pretty well. I remember saying “So, it is true. I’m afraid”. Beautiful, I was sure now and I just needed to know why. As I was in the treadmill one night, the answer popped into my head. “You’re scared because you’re afraid of investing time again and not seeing results”. Now, this sounds like a pretty common answer, duh, but there is a big difference when the answer comes from WITHIN rather than outside. Huge difference. The answers from outside helps you memorize and act it out to go from there, while the answers from inside help you to realize and live it out. What a difference.

Be aware, as you write, some ideas will come to you in crystal clear words and you’ll have an ‘Aha!’ moment, others will be pretty blurry in your mind and your job will be to write it down until you figure it out. For instance, if you ask yourself “What does a magic moment look like?”. You can surely picture a magic moment in your head (Chances are you’re picturing one right now) but can you live that magic moment at once? Maybe not. If I asked you to describe how a magic moment can occur, then you may have a bit of trouble doing so, even when you can see it clearly in your head! Isn’t that crazy? But if you begin to write, and write, and write, you will get to a point where you can actually describe and feel pretty accurately how that magic moment can be created. You will have gone from imagining a magic moment to having enough knowledge and within-education to know how to CREATE that magic moment. In other words, you will take the invisible and make it visible.

The difference that makes the difference

Writing it. Writing it makes the difference. Someone said it “Writing is the beginning of wealth”. I’m by no means very wealthy, but writing has enriched my spirit so much. When you write it, you remember it. It’s so crucial. Jim Rohn said it “If an idea is worth listening to, worth reading, worth remembering it, then it’s also worth capturing it in your journal. And there are many reasons for making the effort to capture good ideas, not the least is the simple fact that the simple act of writing something on paper helps to make the idea firmer in our mind.” Of course, it’s not just ideas, but questions, quotes, pictures, and realizations too. Write down everything as it comes into your mind. Don’t focus about organizing it by segments. Let it flow and soon you’ll be more organized than you can imagine. My entries actually have quotes all over them, because I will happen to read something and I just know I have to write them down because if not now, they will be helpful later. You can go back to your past journal entry pretty easily and see how you thought back then and compare it to how you think now, or you can check for unanswered questions that you’d like to answer now. You can check it for a great idea that you couldn’t apply at the moment, or you forgot to apply it, but now you’re free and able to apply it. But if you had never written that idea down, you could never apply it – then or months later.

I will re-state the question I asked in the video I linked you earlier, What could be more important than improving things so that they give you the best result? What could be more important than writing down my questions to ask the next girl you meet, or the next prospect you’ll help? What could be more important than writing down your presentation or a new funny line or a new way to make her day, or his day? What could be more important than understanding yourself? Is it worth doing so? You better believe it. Whether you want to improve your dating life to get one girlfriend or if you want to live it like a playboy, the advise is the same, get a journal and write on it. If you’d like to share a public journal – one than you can always easily go back to – then join our forum and I’ll create one for you. If not, go ahead and use Google documents, it’s the best that I found. If you can afford it, I recommend “The Journal” software too.

I encourage you to be a professional. A professional is a serious student, one that studies his or her entire life, not just one who goes to work everyday for a paycheck. Be a serious student of your life by jotting down ideas, quotes, feelings, questions to your personal life, questions for your relationships, your goals, and even to-do lists. When I’m outside, and I hear something amazing (it happens often when you expose yourself) I write it on my cell phone and when I get home, I write it on my computer. You should do the same. I used a pocket-notebook before for notes outside home but I have switched to cell phone now – you know, technology . If you’re going to attend an important event where there will be need to use something besides your cell phone, and cannot take a laptop, then definitely take a notebook. You’ll be amazed at how many ideas you can collect in a week when you begin to write them down. Write them, before you forget them. There is nothing as effective as the answers that you can come up with, because you will feel an automatic drive to apply them. There is no telling in what you can realize when you write. There is no telling in what you can become if you keep a journal. There is no telling what you can do if you live as a serious student. I know you want to be one. If you finished reading this, then you definitely want to be it. Congratulations.

By Daniel Becerra

I’m stoked for the guys that have recently been writing their goals and sharing them with us, absolutely stoked! As a result I have the urge to share some stuff regarding goal setting and achievement. It’s a dirty little trick, a faster way of achieving your goals, not a slick or lazy way, but rather an intelligent, unique approach to it. Goal setting has been covered to death in other places in a peculiar way, that includes deadlines, where to tape them, how many times to read them and so on. This is a different approach.

This website is for intelligent people. My definition of intelligence is the ability of solving problems, therefore an intelligent person is one who solves problems well, or works on himself to solve those problems constantly. An intelligent person is also looking for way to getting an edge and more important, an intelligent person always aims high. He/she aims not to just solve a problem, but to also get the best result out of it. Intelligent people aim high, even though they know they might miss because they know that if they aim low, they can easily hit it – but they can’t call that success. For example, a student who can easily get an A in a regular class, decides to put himself to the test and go to the honor class. That student is aiming high, that’s a sign of real intelligence. Having that in mind, the first step is to aim high, to think big, to dream big and to never deny yourself the things that you want – no matter how unreachable they may seem at the moment.

Now hold that thought (of aiming high) there. Hold it, make a mental note of it. It’s important as we continue.

Awareness and Intelligence

Intelligence – in my opinion – is developed as you make decisions. Notice I say intelligence, not knowledge. The more decisions, the more intelligent you become. The harder you try and fall, the more intelligent and experienced you become. It is great to fill your brain with information. We all do that. But information only raises our level of awareness. Making a decision raises our level of intelligence. For example, if you read enough about Pick-up, to the point in which you have a clear understanding of it, then you’ll be able to detect the signals of a woman being attracted to you or you can detect that she is intentionally dressed up to attract other males. These are things you hadn’t noticed before, you now do – that’s awareness. But awareness isn’t enough.

It is when you act on this awareness that you become intelligent. When you make the decision you become intelligent. Chances are, your decision will not be right, but once done, you can make it right, because it’s your decision. You understand the root of it, you know what you want the outcome to be. You have a first step and a goal, point A and point B. It will take only a couple of steps and adjustments to get to point B. Let’s use the example above. If you notice a signal of attraction and decide to act upon it, chances are that your calibration (performance) will be a bit off or you can even make it good enough, but you know it can be better. You know that if you adjusted some things, then you can develop bigger trust, stronger bond, stronger sexual tension and so on. The decisions you make to get better results are in direct proportion to your intelligence. This is exactly why a large part of intelligent people are so successful. Because they began by making a decision, and chances are that they were not right, but they made them right along the way. Again, intelligence is not the amount of knowledge you posses, but rather your ability to get what you want with the knowledge you posses.

Now, bring that thought of aiming high back again and see how that concept and developing your intelligence are related. The higher you aim, the more driven and motivated you will become. So decision making (intelligence) will get you to your goals, not at once by the way – never at once, but the funny thing is that they are directly proportional to your goal achievement. Meaning the more decisions you make, the more intelligent you become and that intelligence becomes even more productive as you continue to make decisions. Make a decision today and carry it. You’ll be wrong – most likely – (as we all are) but it only seems wrong at that moment, because if you live by that decision, you will eventually get to achieve your goal. Bit by bit, you will achieve more goals.

The Dirty Little Trick

Let’s get to the good stuff. The long essay above is an introduction to this. It was needed. So take the time to read it thoroughly. In my post How to get started and not stop, I wrote about that moment in which you know that you have it. That moment in which you know you’re ready and that finally you know you will not stop. That moment is a defining one and it’s a key thing in what I’m about to explain – so hold it in mind.

Side effects is the dirty little trick. Side effects are often ignored. For instance, working solemnly on your game to get a better dating life, instead of working on yourself is such a dumb thing to do. Because while one allows you to develop in more areas than the other, you still get the same (or better) results, so why wouldn’t you take the one that develops more areas? Think about it for a second. A modern man will attract women in multiple places because he has his life in order, he aspires and works to achieve more, he is in good health, he has a social life, he is intelligent and so on. These are the conditions that one must show while working on their “game”, while the person who works on his “game” may achieve showing signs of that condition, they will not only be temporary, but also they will be just an illusion, because he focused on creating the illusion of these conditions to get specific responses from women, rather than getting the real conditions themselves.

Take this example a little further and you will understand. If your goal was to have a real better dating life, then the side effects of that goal once achieved would be: Not chasing women, because if you have a great dating life, then why would you chase. Not being afraid of rejection because you know (from your real life situation) that another one will come. And so on.

Another much better example is the following. I’ll use my good friend Jamie “Chikito” Craven. If you haven’t noticed yet, the guy has gone from chubby to incredibly fit. . Take him as an example. When he made the decision to lose weight and become fit, what determined his improvement was not the ability to lift a weight or do some sit ups because these are skills that can be easily developed. What determined his improvement was his identity shift. His brain. His mind. You get it. If you were to put Jamie’s identity into a fat person’s body, his mind will automatically look at that new over-weighted body and say “Oh my God! This is not me! I gotta exercise, I gotta start my diet and I’m starting right now!” Where as to another identity would say “Oh, it’s not that bad”. Do you see the difference? Jamie’s identity would not accept that body as his, therefore he would work extremely hard to get to his desired shape. He would avoid fast food, change the entire food in his household, get a gym membership and so on. Do you see how this gap is closing?

It is imperative that before setting to achieve a goal, we have absolute clarity what our goal is. Clarity is powerful and it will drive you to your goal and you will feel when you’re on the right track.

A Final Note

You will know that you’re going to achieve it once you feel the urge to do it. That feeling is key. You will know what I’m talking about. That feeling is the identity shift. This is why I said that it’s okay to fail, but you must try again. Eventually when you try again, you will be hooked.

Start looking for the side effects of your desired goal. Once you recognize them, work on them and soon you’ll find yourself achieving your goals faster. See those traits in the people that are successful in doing what you wish you did well. If you want to improve your fitness, look for the side effects of a person who achieved his goal in fitness. If you want to improve your social skills, looking for the side effects of a person who has achieved his desired goal. Do that and you’ll have a sweet shortcut, and an edge that will give you such an advantage over the competition. The more side effects you detect, the more gap you will close. And once you detect them, don’t forget to write them down.

Model: Our very own Kris Hansen

By David Ozor

I’ve always been crazy about sports, whether it was Rugby, Basketball or Football (Soccer, for my American readers!) I wanted to play, and I played to win! The vast majority of the training I performed for Rugby was Anerobic because that was in line with the nature of the game, lots of short sprints, the occasionally 40/50m+ sprint with some recovery time. But during all this time playing Rugby I never really developed a good aerobic base, I was always fairly good at intervals and short sprints but any continuous running was a real problem for me. A rough definition of your Aerobic Base is the fastest pace your body can run/swim/cycle while breathing Aerobically (i.e. Using Oxygen and being able to breathe easily)

Aerobic Base Building is progressively training your body to perform at faster and faster speeds while still breathing aerobically and maintaining heart rate – this is one of the main training methods that endurance athletes use in the off-season or when injured to maintain or increase their fitness levels. I can hear people shouting already “Who wants to be a triathlete or compete in the Tour de France?” But whatever your level of fitness, a better Aerobic base is most definitely an advantage for a number of reasons:

* It will help with your Anaerobic training, if you can run faster while breathing normally you won’t burn up so quickly with your Anaerobic training.
* Your body uses mostly fat for fuel while training like this.
* It’s less stressful and demanding on the body, so it’s brilliant for people starting fitness programs or recovering from injuries.

Getting started:

The first thing I suggest you get is a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM). I own a polar F4, and it’s at the center of all my training sessions. A basic HRM will work just as well for measuring heart rate but it might not have as many features. I wouldn’t advice breaking the bank just to purchase a top the range HRM, but it’s nice if it provides an estimate of calorie expenditure and a review of the training session.

If you do purchase a HRM you need an estimate of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR), there are lots of formulas and tools on the net that can give you a value of this by taking into account your age,sex, and weight. For me the best thing to do is just strap-on a HRM and find out what it actually is. If you can get access to a treadmill you should run as fast as you can for 3mins solid, rest with 2mins gentle jogging, and then start running again for another 3mins at a pace you think you can sustain. When the 2^nd run is over, note the maximum heart rate recorded, this value might actually be observed after you stop running, so wait a 30-60s after running before stopping the measurement. (You may wish to repeat this test a few times just to get a more accurate measurement, or you could also do it over the course of a few days)

Training:

In order to exercise Aerobically we need to make our hearts beat at between 65-80% of our MHR. (Above 80-85% we reach the Anaerobic limit and the exercise is now Anaerobic). I normally try to work at 80% of my MHR i.e. after performing a Max Heart Rate test, my Heart rate goes as high as 179BPM. Which gives a Aerobic zone of roughly 144-115BPM. So when I’m at the gym using the treadmill I’m trying to keep my HR at exactly 144BPM.

It‘s tricky at the start to keep your HR at the Aerobic limit, it will rise during exercise. Just start slowly maybe even at hard walking pace or try to jog as slowly as possible. Concentrate heavily on breathing in a slow and controlled manner. Your HRM will give good feedback on this. Take short sharp breaths and your HR will increase.

It may not initially feel like you are doing much exercise but eventually you’ll be able to break into a decent paced jog/run. You may need to vary your speed/incline of the treadmill during exercise to keep running at a good Aerobic rate. After a few runs you will need to increase the pace of your run in order to maintain the same heart rate, increasing your pace roughly once every 2 runs.

To increase your Aerobic base you need to run for a reasonable length of time, I think 30-40mins should be more than enough. While starting out build your mileage slowly and sensibly, maybe target 10 mins jogging for a first session and increase that by 5mins or less after every run, slowly working your way up to 30+mins over a periodic of a couple weeks.

Summary:

* This is a great fat burning exercise that is a good start to any fitness regime.
* Aerobic exercise is less stressful on the body when compared to HIIT, or Anaerobic exercise.
* It’s a good way to stay fit when injured.
* By building a solid Aerobic base you’ll be able to run distances faster and for longer.
* The beauty of this type of training is that you can use the same HR ranges for a variety of different exercises: The treadmill, cross trainer or bike.
* Try it!

As men, and as humans in general we should constantly be striving to drastically improve and expand ourselves in every area of lives. One should be the master of not only his physical, but his mental, intellectual, and spiritual realms. No human is complete without these. There are specific things in life that can and will enrich your lives in one or more of these areas. Please realize, that not all of these need to be done to be a complete person, there are many different paths to take. Please also realize I am just serving a few examples that work in my life, there are many more positive activities and things of the sort you can bring into you life to be the best man you can.

1) Health and well being - I strongly feel that my physical body is the most important aspect of my life, because as far as I know, nothing else in my life can exist without it. My thoughts, emotions, mental health, are all dependent on me being alive and well in the physical realm of existence.

- Physical Fitness is one essential part of my life, I maintain an active lifestyle in general, but make it a point to workout at least once a day, however it is usually twice. Initially, some people have trouble enjoying working out, but I have learned to love it. And you should too. Your body is your gift from whatever God/Power you feel created you. Take care of it, learn about anatomy and physiology, appreciate the fact that you are, by far, the most complex life-machine on the planet. Your body is THE pinnacle of evolution on this planet. You can run, jump, swim, fight, play, act, dance, do back-flips, play guitar, and so much more. Enjoy this. Strive to get in the best shape of your life, in any way you can. Explore your options. Weight lifting, martial arts, yoga, pilates, sports, iso/plyometrics, calisthenics, cardiovascular, you name it, you can do it. All of these wonderful activities will bring discipline, energy, and an over increase in well-being and life expectancy.

- Maintaining a healthy lifestyle doesn’t just include physical fitness, you should stray away from unhealthy activities, foods, and habits as well. I quit smoking cigarettes, by far one of the best things I’ve ever done. They are completely and utterly pointless. They have no positive effects on your body, they are a complete waste of money, they smell horrible, they pollute the environment, and they fund big corporate interests that don’t care about you as an individual. Stop eating crappy food. Learn to appreciate all the wonderful healthy foods that this world has to offer. Fruits and veggies are an untapped resource among most men. Why? They are delicious, they are great for you, they are cheap, and easy. Stop eating genetically modified foods or foods that are over processed, both of these will deteriorate your body and overall physical over long periods of time. Don’t watch T.V or play video games that often, neither of the two are very productive activities, and lead to a lazy and rather unhealthy lifestyle.

2) Mental and Intellectual- Just as important as your physical health, is your mental health. And just as equally important as that is your intellectual capabilities. You can be a strong and good looking as you want, but if you are a nut-job or a emptied-brain person, you’re not going anywhere with yourself. But think of the possibilities that open up to you as a beautiful, healthy, wise, and clear-minded person. The sky is truly the limit in these cases.

- Mental Health is absolutely key. Ninety five percent of people have some sort of mental blockage that warps and distorts their world view in some way. We all have things thrown in our path from time to time, but we need to move past petty arguments, past experiences, embarrassments, wrongdoings, and things of the sort. Most people tend to suppress things like these which throw them into your subconscious where they will continue to haunt you until you acknowledge, accept, and release them. Fears, regrets, feelings of hatred and other negative emotions will only limit you as a person. They cause all sorts of mental instabilities which are then reflected from your inner world, to your outer world. Causing psychical discomfort of all sorts from violent anger to dramatic fits. I used to be a very angry, pessimistic person at one point, because I had not accepted the my past and I wasn’t ready to face my future. But once we acknowledge these negative forces within ourselves, we can move past them and continue with our lives in a positive and productive direction. All of this is very general, but I think a lot of you may know exactly what I’m getting at.

- A smart man, will dominate in any situation, guaranteed. And I’m not talking book-smart. I’m talking about savvy, wise, men who have their wits sharp and their eyes open. Real life smarts. A jack of all trades, someone who knows whats going on at all times, whether it is in his small social circle of friends at a party, or the latest political-world news. You can’t react if you don’t know what is going on. Learn everything you can. Whether you are really interested in it or not, chances are, you’ll use it down the road. I used to be forced to help my step-father do all sorts of home-improvement as a kid, but guess what? When I ever had a woman (or even another clueless man) who needed their lawnmower, sink, toilet, light fixture, dishwasher, water heater, etc fixed, I could handle the job with ease. That is an example of things that women especially look for when finding a real man. That serves as just one example, we can also look into the fact that any woman I have a conversation with, that has some brains about her, is getting herself into a deep, meaningful, and exciting conversation. Why? Because I’m intelligent. I read a lot. I do a lot. I speak a lot. I take knowledge from anything and anyone I can. You can take lessons from other people’s mistakes, misfortunes, good behavior, good examples, successes, failures, anything. Just pay attention, analyze, and store.I’m telling you, this stuff is simple.

3) Spiritual and Religion - A complete man must have some sort of structured world view. I encourage anyone who has studied or followed a certain religion their whole lives to seriously consider looking into others. Please do not limit your spirituality to the doctrines of a certain school of thought. Just as you don’t want to limit yourself in any other area of life. If you’re a Christian, pick up a few Eastern religion books, even if it is just to have a browse. Chances are you are going to find something in there that will help you in one way or another.

- Spirituality is an awesome part of human existence. We are the only species on this planet to ponder such deep thoughts like the meaning and/or purpose of life, our creation, demise, etc. A well-rounded man has his feet planted firmly on the ground, but his head should remain in the clouds, metaphorically speaking. Whether you are a materialist, dualist, taoist, pagan, christian, jew, muslim, or whatever else you can come up with, enjoy the fact that you are a deep thinking mammal who can indulge in such spectacular activities. The path to enlightenment is different for each individual, blaze your own path, and you shall find the answers you seek. I cannot say much more about the joys of spirituality, because it is something that is better understood when it is explored and felt, rather than dictated.

4) Friends and Networks: Another enabling factor, a very important one are your friends and networking capabilities. For instance, if I want to go on a second date and need a good place, I have the restaurant I work at. It’s extremely nice, I am extremely close with the bosses, and its an overall great place to be; sports players and big shots in there all the time. Or one of my buddies has a massive house. We all have connections like this, and if not, they are easy to obtain. If you don’t have good friends, and all they do is sit around all day, tell them to follow, or get out of the way. Your friends will make you or break you. There is no need to be a prick but you must be learning to drop some people who are a negative influence on your life. Find people who are on the go, always doing something fun. Do little things like have a conversation with the cops that you see in your local convenience store or the male or female sitting next to you on the bus. The more people you know, the more you are capable of. I can just think back to what a good networking move it was to speak with my now very close friend, Daniel Becerra. I think you all get the point.

5) Activities, Hobbies, and Talents: The more you keep yourself active, the more opportunities you will be presented with. Simple things like going to the gym, playing basketball, being active in your community, going with friends to local parks and city gatherings, and so much more. All of this will open you up to more and more experiences. One of the coolest chicks I met was on a white water rafting trip, I didn’t plan on meeting any women there, but it turned out we had many similar interests and bonded quite quickly during the trip. Even if you don’t meet any women during all this, it is something to talk about and use as a demonstration of value, and shows a fun on-the-go action packed life. Something that is very appealing to most people these days.

6. Possessions: Many (not all) people place a high value on what kind of possessions a man has in his life, whether it be money, a good job, a nice car, or whatever. For example, my friend drives a porsche, and when we go out, it doesn’t take much to get a conversation going with some girls. In fact in most cases all it takes is rolling down the window at stoplights, parking lots or leaving clubs. Now, obviously not everyone can have a Porsche, but there are things everyone can do that will enable you to have an easier time. Having a nice house, that is decorated with passion. A well-kept bedroom with true character. All of these things are qualities of a tremendous lifestyle. Whether you like to admit it or not, we live in a material world – so if you’re going to play the game, then play it right. Make sure you have nice things, and when you have nice things, keep them nice. This is one very important aspect of building ‘The Lifestyle’.

Overall, a fun, enlightened lifestyle is one that will not only enable you to attract fun, enlightened people, but also keep them in your life.

Words: Ian Smith.

Photography: Calvin Wallace. You can check more of his art in his page.

By Jamie “Chikito” Craven

This article’s aim is to guide you through the necessary steps of losing weight. No bullshit gimmicks, no over complicated methods. Just some hard work and self discipline. There is a lot of time wasted arguing over which method of fat loss is best or works better in the long run. I used to gladly join this debate until I got sick of it. You can spend a life time trying to do the perfect method of fat loss and arguing it on the net, but in the end the majority of methods are going to be disproved or you’re going to “find out” that it isn’t the ‘healthy’ way of losing weight over time. The method you use doesn’t really matter as long as you actually do it and it works for you. So rather than spending hours listening to ‘experts’ try to sell you their better method, I would just follow the basics. I present the way I went from slob to model bod. After researching for a couple of days, I finally just picked one and stuck to it and it really has paid off. I went from becoming a normal slightly overweight groggy, grumpy young man to a male model featured in Cosmopolitan magazine, full of energy, vigor and confidence.

A lot of people try to rationalize their weight insecurities by saying things like the fashion industry gives a false image of what real humans look like. I couldn’t agree more, but that is no excuse to not stay healthy. If you are reading this on the Internet that means you live in a society and country that provides you with every possible thing you need to live at an optimum – the Internet itself. Your body is the only physical thing in the world that is guaranteed to be with you your whole life, so treat it right, you only get one. You have all the resources you could possibly want to turn your body into the best it could be, so why feed it rubbish or let it sit idle? Thousands of years ago, you would not have had anywhere near the resources we do today. You might not have lived in a place where your diet would be completely well rounded. Maybe you would have lived somewhere where there was a shortage of protein or a shortage of carbohydrates, either way I bet the average person back then had a far superior body (I’m not just talking about aesthetics) to the average person today. It worked quicker, stronger, healthier. Eating correctly brings a lot of benefits you can not synthetically replicate in this age. Regular exercise keeps your body strong and capable of dealing with the trauma’s life throws at you, including sickness and injury not to mention increases your circulation, clarity, mental strength and keeps you relaxed and happy.

I admit I would not have ever made this transformation unless I had some external motivation to do so. I had a chance to become a model and had a month and a half to drop my waist line from 37 inches to 31. I did it. But I would have never changed my beliefs on what I could do without the motivation of potentially being a male underwear model. So I aim to be your inspiration, I know this is a little egotistical but I have come to believe that there is no shame in being proud of your achievements. If you want to judge me as a big headed, go ahead, but check to see if you’re not just telling yourself that to deal with your own insecurities. I have insecurities but I do my best not to hide them. We all judge ourselves critically, its what keeps us growing and improving. The problem comes when you continue to judge without acting on it and improving it. It leads to self-loathing. And that’s not very cricket. So here is a video I made of my transformation followed by an explanation of what I did to achieve it.

Jamie’s Journey To Modeling (please rate it!)

WARNING: This is what I did and if you choose to follow this you take the risks upon yourself. I cannot be blamed for anything that might happen from the programmed I followed as it is your decision to partake or not. I warn you now I am not an expert or professional, partake at your own risk.

Step One: Keep records.

First thing I did was measure myself and take a picture of my body front on. I did this so that I would have a record. At the time I didn’t know if it would be a good idea. Although I did have the idea that I was going to share this achievement when I finished. As it turned out looking over the picture week after week especially at the beginning of my transformation kept me very motivated. Since it was my body and I know it inside out I could see very subtle changes each week or even day sometimes. This reassured me that the work I was putting in was worth it, and eventually when I started seeing significant improvement, the process excited me to do even more!

So step one is to take note of where you are now. That includes your weight, various body measurements and pictures of your body front, side, legs and back. I used http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com which has instructional videos and is an excellent way to keep track as it graphs your progress the more you put into it. You can visit mine at http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/Chikito/.

Step Two: Preparing Mentally.

I have to warn you this was not easy. It was very difficult initially to keep my food cravings under control and there are certain attitudes you need to be prepared to face. Firstly your mind is going to make up any excuse it can think up to not go to the gym or to eat that pack of crisps. You need to be super strict and control it all if you are going to eat those crisps designate a time of the week when you can indulge. For me I ate what ever I craved on Sunday dinner and no other time of the week. I decided to start really strict that way I could train my body to deal with it and keep under control. I highly recommend starting this way as it yields the best results and therefore gives you the most motivation to keep it. The best way I found to stop myself from indulging or growing lazy was to remind myself why I am doing it. To make my life better in all aspects. I also told myself I would never turn into one of those ‘failed’ dieters who just gave up half way through. I always asked myself if I was choosing to do something because I really needed to do it (like watch tv) or was I just avoiding the hard work. And one more important thing:

The first step is the hardest. Be it finally getting out of your warm snug bed in the morning or finally committing to go to the gym. Keep reminding yourself that when your dreading that first step. It always gets easier once you get the ball rolling.

Next thing you have to prepare for is what other people are going to say to you. Some people called me crazy (even my own family) for doing what I was doing. Some people told me I was doing it wrong (I only considered this advice if they were doing better than me). Some people teased me and laughed at me. Others did the worst and tempted me. Sometimes with good intentions too. Be aware of these things and block them out. They think your crazy? I say they are crazy for letting their life go to waste and not capatalizing every minute they have on this brilliant Earth. If you don’t have that attitude where you hunger life, read this.

1. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): This is the amount of energy you use everyday to stay alive. Its the amount you use to pump your heart, think, digest, simply to exist. Your body is always burning calories for energy even if you just lay in bed all day. Your BMR also includes growth (natural or bodybuilding) and lots of other basic human functions! To find out your BMR (and write it down for later) click here

2. Feeding Your Activity: You need energy to move, to run, to think, to go on your daily tasks. Part of the energy you consume is spent through movement (obvious) from lifting your arm to typing on the computer.

3. Dietary Thermogenesis: This is the ‘thermogenic effect’ – basically the heat you produce from eating, processing using and absorbing food. You want to make this high but without over eating. Hence why we keep the engine running all day by eating 6-7 small meals a day!

4. Fat. If your body can’t find a way to expend the calories it consumes it will turn it into fat! To be used later! This is why you can live off very basic diet when your dieting. You have tons of energy waiting to be released. You see? The more you exercise the more energy you release and as a nice side note the better you look.

Our aim here is to raise your metabolic rate to the point where you spend more than you consume. That way your body is then forced to metabolize your fat storage to provide for the energy you produced.

So lets use my case as an example. My BMR is roughly 1312 calories a day. That is how much I would need to just live. If it dropped below that many calories a day I would lose weight. If I ate more than 1312.22 calories I would gain weight. If I had NO fat in my body and I ate below that amount, my body will use whatever it can, mainly your muscles (so be careful). Thankfully only people like Bruce Lee have to give it a second thought. The after photo in my video was only about 11% body fat so you have nothing to worry about.

You could go with calorie counting where you count every calorie you eat and expend but that will drive you crazy. Trust me. I tried. Trying to find out how much one boiled egg provides makes me cry, what size is it? Big? small? No way. I don’t know about you, but that is not my way!

Step Three: Losing Fat

1. Raise our Metabolic rate (number 1-3 in the list above) This can be done by doing the following:
- Bodybuilding: getting your body to constantly grow and repair muscle mass.
- Eating 6-7 small meals a day to keep our thermogenic effect as high as possible.
- Fidget and move a lot more, do more thinking, do more walking and be awake for longer periods. Waking up at noon is no longer allowed. Write for your intelligence and thinking-process to grow. Read to keep your mind hungry. And speak/talk to develop ideas in the moment.

2. Consume less calories than our BMR in order to burn the stored fat instead but without cutting out the following:
- Enough protein to provide for muscle growth and general energy.
- Enough vitamins and minerals to keep us healthy. (Multivitamins and fruit take care of this)
- Enough essential fatty acids for a healthy working body (which are healthy fats and get used up quick, I love Avacado’s)
- Enough Carbohydrates (you still need Carbs for your general energy source. Too little and your body eats its on muscle mass, hence why some people lose weight after a diet but still look flabby)

So We Need To Eat Less Than Our BMR, But How Much Protein/Carb/Fatty Acids Do We Need?

It depends on what sort of diet you want to follow. I went on something similar to the velocity diet which basically cuts out all carbs except the bare minimum you need for a day (about one piece of toast in the morning or one serving of whole wheat cornflakes) paired with a whole load of protein to make up for the energy you lack from lack of carbs. With this diet I was advised not to do any Cardio (running, cycling, swimming etc) because you need carbs to fuel that activity, without it your body takes it from your muscles which results in a loss of muscle mass. Not cool.

If you do enjoy your running, feel free to add more carbs to this eating schedule I followed. If you didn’t realize it yet. The diet mentioned above is only recommended for about a month or so when you want to cut out a lot. This is no means the way I want to live the rest of my life.

Morning: Eat one piece of whole wheat bread, with a normal serving size of 100% Whey protein shake (easy to find, bottles will tell you how much is a serving) and one fruit and multi-vitamins.
Mid morning: Small salad with veggies, Avocado or olive oil (or any other source of fatty acids, Google them)
Late morning (Prior to workout): Protein shake and a handful of nuts (more fatty acids) and a serving of *Thermogenic” pills (I used GNC Burn 60)
Early afternoon (Post workout): Protein shake and some fruit.
Early evening (usually with family): Meat of any kind with veggies. (meat should be roughly equivalent to one chicken breast)
Late evening: Usually a can of tuna and some fruit or any kind of protein.

Take note this is what worked for me. My BMR used to be around 1500 when I designed this so take yours into account. You might need to eat less or more depending on your BMR. Make sure you listen to your body, notice how you feel when adjusting your nutrition plan and make appropriate adjustments

Oh and make sure you at least have one cheat meal a week. That is, a meal where you can eat whatever you want, your physical health is not worth your mental health. Keep yourself sane with a nice steak dinner once a week. It’s recommended that you spend that dinner on a date or on a nice evening out with friends or family.

*Thermogenic pills are used to boost your thermogenic effect (the heat you make when your digesting) a lot of stick is out there for Thermogenics but I proved paired with a decent nutrition and regular weight training. It works! If its effects were not noticeable I recommended looking up the effects and finding if there are any health risks for you. It is similar to caffeine’s effects on the body, hence why I took it pre-work out OR on non-workout days in the morning. Never at night.

Step 4: Hitting The Gym.

Now if you are a girl and you are worried about becoming beefcake. Don’t worry! Your body does not produce enough testosterone to build like men do. You will simply lose fat and slowly gain muscles making you firm and sexy . It’s only if you start pumping like crazy and work super hard that you will end up looking like a female body builder. Remember this sort of training is only for a short period of time.

I highly recommend going to the gym, however if that is not possible you can always use your own body weight to train. If you can’t get to a gym check out these:

Scooby’s Home work outs are just awesome:
Find more on his site http://scoobysworkshop.com or his Youtube channel.

If you get to a gym then go ahead and find yourself a personal trainer if it is your first time. The equipment is dangerous if you are not properly trained on how to use them, not to mention if you are not sure how to use something and you try you might end up working out the wrong muscles. I did the bench press wrong for several weeks and found out I was working out my triceps as well as my pecks, hence why my arms seemed so much bigger than my chest. I fixed it and my chest quickly caught up.

A lot of people are afraid of over training, but I threw caution aside and went to the gym about 2 to 3 hours a day when I was on this plan. I worked out different muscle groups each day, usually 3 a day. And I didn’t feel terribly bad for 2 months and I don’t feel any side effects. In fact I have never felt so good.

My routine started with a hour work on my abs, doing everything from weighted sit ups, crunches, leg raises, hanging leg raises. I didn’t leave any stone unturned when it came to abs – even worked out my obliques just as much as my abdominals. All sorts and as well as I could. I didn’t just want a six pack, I wanted the best possible (remember taking advantage of what is possible all the way at the beginning?) which included working out muscles that most people leave like the obliques (hence why I still look like I have love handles)

For a picture of the muscle groups look here.

After that I worked out two other major muscle groups. Make sure you pick two that you can live without using. For example, don’t work out your arms and legs on the same day because you will end up being a paraplegic for that day. If I did my legs then I usually worked out my back. If I worked out my chest then I did arms as well. Hopefully you will get into such a routine that you can start experimenting when to do what.

Remember to document your progress! And share them with us at pualifestyle.com That’s a must .

Step 5: What To Expect.

As I followed this schedule I came across a few things I would have never known could occur without hindsight. For one because I did this in a hot tropical country I sweated a lot when working out and as a result when sweating your skin’s immune system gets a little weaker and I got a fungal infection on my foot because I wasn’t wearing 100% cotton socks apparently. Either way do your best to keep your body dry but don’t be afraid to sweat. Its nothing some anti-fungal cream can’t fix.

Make sure you eat fiber in your diet. Eat veggies with husks and eat things that provide fiber like Weetabix. If you fail to do that, your next session with the toilet will have more water than usual.

The first week could be tough. Actually, it will be tough. Just stick to it and stop your cravings from taking over with proximity safety (Stay away from food, if you don’t see it then it doesn’t tempt you). You will rarely be hungry depending on how much you are eating now, after all your six meals. Until your stomach actually shrinks you wont feel full but you will notice very quickly your appetite will shrink, and your taste buds will change. I tasted a Big Mac 3-4 weeks into it and It tasted like crap. I just wanted to eat some nice steamed broccoli’s! Watch out for empty calories (calories that provide nothing for your body to run on, things with chemical tastes like junk food or sweeties). Eat them under control and don’t binge eat.

After your last meal of the day stay away from snacks and the food closet. Night time is when you tend to binge eat. If your going to eat late at night stay away from carbs because at night you have very little chance that those carbs will be used and they will just turn into fat which will negate your whole days work.

After about two weeks you will start feeling great. Especially if you are keeping up with your food plan (No more waking up at noon). You are going to feel happier, well rested, more flexible, faster, stronger, less stiff, clearer-headed, and so n.

Well that is all and I hope all the best for you!

I have given you all this for free and I only ask that you share with us your results and share this with your friend/the web/social bookmarking. Don’t forget to rate my video either!

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress!

You can contact Jamie Craven with any questions to:
jkcraven@hotmail.com

http://friendfeed.com/chikito

http://www.youtube.com/user/Chikitotube

By Ian Andrew Smith

This is a direct excerpt from a very good book I bought on flexibility entitled “The Genius of Flexibility”, I highly recommend it!

The Physical Benefits of Stretching

Astounding physical and physiological changes result from developing greater flexibility. As your flexibility increases, you’ll experience more fluidity in your movements. Suddenly you are sitting up straighter, walking taller, feeling lighter, and becoming more youthful and childlike in your movements. Your power, strength, and endurance skyrocket. Your diet improves, future injuries don’t have a chance, and your general health is enhanced. You feel stronger, more resilient, and vigorous. You are mystified by your emerging physical prowess.

Flexibility turns your anger and hatred to love
As you engage in conflict with your own body while stretching, you are learning to transfer these skills when engaging in conflict with others and turning problems in relationships into deeper love. As the chronic discomfort in your body leaves, the anger about survival diminishes.

Flexibility wakes you up and shows you how to live in the present
As you remove habitual patterns of discomfort from your body, you find yourself waking up as if from a deep sleep. By focusing your attention on stretching, you find yourself living more in the present. Your physical instincts improve – survival instincts come to the fore, and you find yourself better able to set boundaries and limits with other people

Flexibility determines how well you move and improves your posture
Your flexibility absolutely determines what movements you are able to make and how fast, accurate, and powerful those movements can be. That box on the top shelf suddenly becomes more reachable. Your posture naturally becomes upright without any need for mental reminders to sit up strait or stop slouching. Your biomechanical efficiency has been upgraded.

Flexibility harnesses your strength, power, and endurance
The ability of any muscle to shorten is directly controlled by its ability to lengthen. By increasing your flexibility, your muscles are able to shorten and contract maximally, which translates into increased power, speed, and acceleration.

Flexibility relieves pain, prevents injury, and promotes comfortable living
Many chronic as well as acute myofascial pains are the direct result of muscle shortness. Increase the length of your muscles, watch your back, knee, elbow, and other pains disappear. Increases in flexibility and strength also help prevent future injuries.

Flexibility heals and overhauls your physiological health
A flexibility perk is that your internal health improves – and in very specific and predictable ways. These stretches have helped thousands of people make specific health improvements. With the information presented in this book, you can individualize your own stretching program based on your unique needs.

Flexibility results in an improved diet
No matter what diet you think is best for you, everyone who stretches regularly finds that their eating habits improve. Organic foods find their way onto your plate and suddenly become more attractive than anything else. Nutrient-rich foods replace empty foods.

Flexibility creates athletic prowess
It should be no surprise to you from what you have already read about athletes who have won gold medals at the Olympics (and who credit a big part of their success to resistance flexibility training) that flexibility is the foundation to all physical exercise. Strength, aerobic, and skill performance all depend on flexibility.

Flexibility teaches you to rest and handle stress and distress
When you know how to rest, you can build a better you because your body rebuilds itself during rest. Stretching teaches you how to embrace appropriate amounts of rest to remove undesirable stress and distress.

Flexibility makes you more youthful and solid
Everyone who stretches regularly gets younger and better looking. Not only will you move and feel like a person with a much younger body, but you’ll also have a new tool at your disposal to modify and adjust your body so those aches and pains from aging become less intrusive or even disappear. People who aren’t stretching are aging prematurely.

I typed that all myself, so you better enjoy!