Psychic tagging along - methodology

In line with my thoughts about using physicality to drive moving meditation I thought I'd share a method I use.

Today the Olympic swim team was going to do their team medley.

Since the guys had already medalled I was pulling for the female swimmers to do the same.

I wanted to join in, psychically, so I got my bike set up on the fluid trainer, put Metallica on the headphones and rode along on the bike while the ladies swam their medley.

It was beyond fun - it was a pure moment.

They got the Silver:

Congrats to: Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin, Kara Lynn Joyce, Lacey Nymeyer.

Thanks for the ride!

I hit 28mph for five minutes, which is freaking amazing. It just shows what the mind is capable of if you set things up right. (that's about 300 watts).

My best time prior to this has only been 230 wats for 15min.

Support the 2008 Olympics!!

PS - hope this post inspires others to achieve their own personal goals by whatever method which works for them.

reply to post by Badge01


A few questions...

Were you helping propel them (at all) or were they helping propel you?

Can you explain what you were thinking while this was going on a little more?

Which cd? I love Metallica.

reply to post by sc2099


Another way to put it is I steal energy from televised sports or even movies.

I knew they were going to be contesting and got the bike ready and started warming up. It was pretty emotional for me, and I try and build on that feeling and use it to drive my pedaling.

The Olympics with their strong emotional component as we root for the various teams and people (regardless of nationality) is perfect for this.

Obviously I'm not driving the athletes, though I feel emotionally linked, it's certainly only one-way.

The set up I use - a road bike on a fluid trainer, is unique for this type of thing because you can really generate some wattages. A concept 2 rower might also work.



The women's 4x200 relay is perfect for cranking out some watts, usually lasting about 8 minutes (7:44:31 here)

Same race in Sidney


Australia gets WR in 4x200 freestyle relay

[edit on 13-8-2008 by Badge01]

Talking some more about moving meditation and riding a fluid trainer.

Obviously we're talking about engaging body and mind and 'stealing' energy from watching videos and tv'.

Having the trainer all set up in your study with the TV and monitor allows one access to a variety of shows, live and taped. To protect the floor I use a rubberized, padded mat you can buy at any bike shop. Fluid trainers are exceptionally quiet and have had a big improvement over the years, reaching maturity and reliability as a fitness product.

One thing that may be overlooked by many fitness buffs and mind trainers is the idea of 'catching your abilities at a peak'. If all you need to do is put on your shoes and climb aboard, you can easily an quickly enter the 'aerobics' zone where the mind is sharp and concentration is developed.

One thing that I've learned about by body rhythms is that my energies ebb and raise, peak and trough. I can see this by tracking my workouts and giving a 'psyche value' to the day.

Here's an example from 2006. It's a confusing morass of numbers now, but what is meaningful to me are the color codings. The darker, oranger and blacker means my times are coming down and my intensities increasing. It shows a peaking trend. Notie the peak dates in black highlights on 9/23 and on 10/10/06 where there's an even stronger peak. Thus even two years later I can look at my log and see my peaks and troughs at a distance. Knowing my rhythm helps me to plan and to know what I can expect out of future workouts.



The key here is to catch your peak and schedule your challenging workouts to coincide.

The way I do this is by closely spacing my workouts. One thing that is nice about a fluid trainer is it is very safe and one can recover from a workout in about 4 hours, even a hard one. And, it's very good for active recovery, or rides at 70% or less HRM.

I measure intensity by looking at a chart which converts into watts and I also measure by wearing a Heart Rate Monitor (Made by Polar). Then I track watts and HR looking for improvement and particularly for overtraining. (It's very difficult to over train this way, unlike running. However keep in mind it's important to do weight bearing exercises also. I'm just focusing on the use of the fluid trainer as a mind-body exercise.

You want to have the strongest body-mind connection and here you reap the most benefits. The mind soars and the body follows.

Next I'll talk a little about association and disassociation type workouts.

I hope I'm getting my thoughts across, though I realize I may be typing to a niche audience here.

[edit on 14-8-2008 by Badge01]

Only read the OP up to now, but thats awesome.

Yes, we can derive a lot of energy from events and certain shows and we can channel them in directions that are to our benefit.

I had almost forgotten about this. Thanks for the reminder.

Of course you are taking energy from them, but you are also giving energy. Thats the purpose of having an audience. The attentiona and excitement projected by an audience is paramount to the performance of the athlete.

There are two major types of workouts on the fluid trainer.

One is a 'disassociative' type of workout where you pretty much remain distracted from the fact that you're riding by the movie or entertainment or music you're using.

In this mode, I'm generally riding tempo and just getting the pedals around and feeling smooth.

The other mode is 'associative' more. Here I'm concentrating strongly on what I'm doing feeling my way through the levels of pain, trying not to stop and keeping the breathing going. I find I can't dissociate when I'm riding very hard. I have to concentrate or I lose focus and tempo. Paradoxically, the time spent here feels both elongated and shortened.

I'll be riding for what seems like an eternity, then I 'come to' and suddenly it will seem I've ridden for twice as long as I anticipated.

Now these two modes do come naturally, but they can also be learned. You can practice using imagery and thinking 'above' and 'beyond' the task easing the physical stress.

When you're concentrating, everything else seems to disappear. I'll stop hearing my music and stop seeing anything, and everything comes down to a series of visual colors.

Anyway, that's my take on association and disassociation in exercise.

I don't think it's exactly the same..but I always get an extra kick out of training to Rocky III 'Eye of the tiger'.

Watching UFC I'm always using the 'psychic link' to tell my fave when there's an arm loose or if I spot a mannerism before a certain move..

"GET THE ARM BAR!!!.. Oh for GAWD's sake..what are you doing???.. OK just lie there and bleed instead"..

I'm not a 'serene' spectator..

reply to post by Skyfloating

That's a good point, Sky, the use of the audience.

The energy feeds both ways and I know I always perform better when I know someone is 'watching' or in this instance there's something to follow along playing.

So I'm using the media as an audience making it a shared experience, or at least -simulating- that. You can draw energy from the crowd even if you're alone. The mind is great like that. It can create as real an experience as you'll let it without much coaxing if you do it right.

One of my favorite trainer workouts is having one of the epic climbs of the Tour de France playing. It's easy for me to try and simulate the energy demands that I see on screen, and though intensity or time might be a little shortened, you can gauge your efforts and still get an optimal workout.

On equipment like a fluid trainer (or stationary bike) or a Concept II rower:

www.firstfitnessequipment.com...

...the workout is dynamic and self-contained. You just jump on and do it.

To me the use of the body energetics as stimulating the mind and harnessing the concentration is an essential part, so much so that I don't really know many other ways of tapping into it.