They are based on the teachings of a very famous and wise person, Marcus Cicero.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, born 3 January 106 BC and died on 7 December 43 BC, was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and was one of Rome’s greatest orators and prose stylists

According to Michael Grant, “the influence of Cicero upon the history of European literature and ideas greatly exceeds that of any other prose writer in any language”.

I first heard about these teachings in a book entitled, Wisdom of the Ages, by Dr. Wayne Dyer. When I read these teachings I was literally without words. It struck at the core and made me re-think a lot of my own backward %#$ philosophy.

The 6 Mistakes of Man, by Cicero, was really intended as a warning for future generations to avoid the errors made by Cicero and his contemporaries at the time of the great Roman Empire.

Cicero wanted to share what went so tragically wrong with one of the impressive empires of our time.

Here are Cicero’s 6 Mistakes of Man:

1. The delusion that personal gain is made by crushing others.
2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.
3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.
4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences.
5. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and studying.
6. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

So how the heck does this relate to Calisthenics and athletic training?

That’s a great question.

Here is an interpretation of these treasured pearls of wisdom as applied to the world of Calisthenics.

1. The delusion that personal gain is made by crushing others.

As an athlete, you are constantly want to increase, improve, get better, make progress and let’s not forget have fun in the process. This first mistake of man applied to calisthenics is really all about be inclusive. Oftentimes when we train, we are only focus on the me in the equation and leave out the rest. In my case, I wanted to make my training a family thing, including my wife and son in the fun. (I am a poet and I didn’t even know it….huh I did it again…) We may not be literally crushing others by our actions but we may not be sharing in our joy because of our insane devotion and discipline to our sport. Our personal gain can be shared with others and as we excel we can bring those along for the ride.

Each of us is at a different place in our athletic training, and meeting others where they are at is especially helpful not only for the others that can benefit from your knowledge and skill-set, but you too can benefit because you reinforce and get better from that which you share and teach to others.

2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.

If there was ever something so fatal that could literally kill you, its worry. Stress is the result of worry. And as we all know it’s the main cause of a lot of the dis-ease. There are of course things we can do to reduce our stress, probably the best way to lessen your worry is to just let go of the things you cannot control or change.

It’s really easy to fall under the illusion that we are so all mighty and powerful that we can will anything we want by changing it exactly to our liking or correct it perfectly. That is nice thinking, but it’s just that, nice thinking and really nothing more.

We can really only control and change the things that we have within our immediate reach to change and everything else is just noise. Breakthrough the noise and hear the signals.

3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.

Seriously if I had a penny for every time someone told me that this or that was impossible, I would literally be a millionaire. We have all heard how something is absolutely freaking impossible to do, only to find a short while later that some guy or gal in some far distant land did the very thing we or someone we know had professed was impossible to do.

If you are like most, you probably get even more motivated when someone tells you that you can’t. The very notion that something is impossible only because the person telling you this can’t fathom another option sets a fire a blazing in most. It certainly has moved me to do things that pushed me beyond my boundaries. And in the end, we all are better people for having gone through such experiences.

Isn’t that what Calisthenics is all about. Pushing through the limits, testing your prior personal bests and seeing what you are really made of. We all have 86,400 seconds each day. Do the impossible and make it possible. And don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences.

Look I am the first to admit that I have my own funny pet peeves and quirks. It most definitely drives my wife batty. We all have our unusual and strange preferences. These preferences can sometimes keep us from trying new things or seeing a difference perspective. It’s aptly called the comfort zone. And in it, oftentimes you will not grow. Especially when it comes to your training. Letting go of what you think and how you think and trying something new goes a long way toward a more well-rounded athletic performance.

5. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and studying.

The old adage a mind is a terrible thing to waste, is one worth noting. The mind is like a muscle, and if you don’t use it you will lose it. If we just focus on training our body and not our mind, we will be up a creek without a paddle.

To really press upon the importance of this let’s look at a study done on some 678 nuns, 80% of whom were teachers and continued to make learning a life long quest. It followed 678 sisters of the School Sisters of Notre Dame living in Mankato, Minnesota. The goal of the study is to identify the risk factors for Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. Some of the results of the study confirm the commonsense notions that healthy lifestyle and active and stimulating intellectual life can help us stay healthy and independent later in life. But the most surprising finding is that certain traits in early 20s can help predict whether someone will have Alzheimer’s disease 60 years later. What are some of the findings? A college education and an active intellectual life may help stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The Nun Study also suggested that strokes and brain trauma might worsen the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

There were many other findings that came out of the nun study but for the purposes of this point, we wanted to demonstrate the importance of refinement of the brain & the habit of reading and studying contribute enormously toward that.

6. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

We all love to exercise and stay active. And when it comes to calisthenics, I am guilty of this one. I love to profess my passion and enthusiasm for the sport. We need to error on the side of caution though, because what works for one may not work for another. Just because you love working out and calisthenics does not mean that it will be embraced and shared among your peers. The adage let and let live holds true here.

There are many things that happen as we embrace our passions and one of them is to evangelize. Although our intentions are coming from a good place it may be received by others as trying to control or manipulate. Its best to be quiet and humble and do your own thing. And if others take an interest and solicit your advice, well then so be it. But don’t go out there telling others what, how and when they should live their lives. That will just cause a whole lot of problems.

In conclusion, we have discussed the 6 Mistakes of a Calisthenics Athlete as seen through the lens of the great orator, philosopher and lawyer, Cicero. Applying these to your own training and way of life is of course your decision.

Of course, I am going to use what I have found in terms of research and apply it to the world of calisthenics.

One of the best places to start is to first look at the two two terms and their respective definitions: reps and sets.

“Reps” is short for repetitions. A repetition is the number of times you actually perform an exercise or movement.

For example, if you do 10 push ups, than you have done 10 repetitions of push ups.

“Sets” are the total number of repetitions you do for an exercise or movement.

For example, if you do 10 push ups, than you have done 1 set of 10 repetitions.

Now that you understand to some degree what a “rep” and “set” are, the more important question becomes what is the right mix of reps and sets and rest between sets?

There is no one size fits all when it comes to how many sets and reps. It really depends on your fitness goals, objectives and skill level.

A good understanding of muscle hypertrophy is also an essentially component that sometimes gets overlooked.

Muscle hypertrophy is essentially the ability to grow muscle skeletal muscle.

There are three types of muscle:

1) Skeletal muscle
2) Smooth muscle
3) Cardiac muscle

Lets go over each briefly.

Skeletal muscle are those which attach to bones and have the main function of contracting to facilitate movement of our skeletons. They are the striations that you see on a bodybuilder or someone in great shape. 1

Smooth muscle is also sometimes known as Involuntary muscle due to our inability to control its movements, or Unstriated as it does not have the stripy appearance of Skeletal muscle. Smooth muscle is found in the walls of hollow organs such as the Stomach, Oesophagus, Bronchi and in the walls of blood vessels.2

Cardiac (Heart) muscle is found solely in the walls of the heart. It has similarities with skeletal muscles in that it is striated and with smooth muscles in that its contractions are not under conscious control.3

The Skeletal muscle is what I will be focusing on as I discuss muscle hypertrophy.

There are two types of muscle hypertrophy:  myofibrillar or functional hypertrophy and sarcoplasmic or non-functional hypertrophy.

Think of functional hypertrophy as strength and non-functional hypertrophy as growth.  This is, of course, a gross over-generalization and in no way am I saying that bodybuilders are not strong as well, nor am I saying that the “strongmen” out there don’t grow in size and muscle.

It’s just a way to wrap your head around these two concepts as it pertains to your overall fitness goals.

The amount of reps and sets really depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

In order for the muscle to grow you have to shock it, you have to do something out of the norm, to induce any type of growth. That also goes without saying when it comes to any other area of your life.

If you just go through the motions, and you don’t focus on the actual movements, and you are not pushing yourself to the limits and beyond, you will not see progress.

No matter what rep and set combo you are doing.

I learned this from the P90X founder, Tony Horton:

1. Variety: Mixing it up, changing the routine, to shock the body, this is also called muscle confusion. Muscle strength, endurance and growth are the results of confusing the body.

2. Consistency: A constant routine is also a pillar to muscle growth and strength because it sends a signal to the body to be in a prepared ready state for activity.

3. Intensity: Your workouts need to be intense, otherwise there is no reason to be working out. It”s called working out for a reason, it’s not called going thru the motions. You need to give 100% effort. Or as Arnold Schwarzenegger likes to call it, “Being in the zone. Do it and go all at it.”

 If you want to grow in size than more reps lower rest periods, however if strength is what you are after than you want to lower your reps and you increase your rest periods:

Desired Outcome	Growth Vs Strength	Reps Per Set	Rest Time
Explosive Power	Strength	4-7 Reps	3+ Minutes
Peak Strength (Myofibrillar Hypertrophy/Functional)	Strength	1-3 Reps	5+ Minutes
Strength (Myofibrillar Hypertrophy/Functional)	Strength	4-6 Reps	2-3 Minutes
Hypertrophy (Sarcoplasmic/Non-Functional)	Growth	8-12 Reps	60-90 Seconds
Muscle Endurance (Sarcoplasmic/Non-Functional)	Growth	12-20+ Reps	30-60 Seconds

There are four additional items that I would like to address when it comes to reps and sets, granted these were popularized in traditional bodybuilding but can be easily applied to calisthenics:

1. Drop sets/Pyramids sets: A drop set is the simple technique where you perform a set of any exercise to failure or just short of failure, then drop some weight and continue for more repetitions with the reduced poundage. Increasing the reps/weights is called pyramid sets. (4)

2. Super sets: A super-set is when one set of an exercise is performed directly after a set of a different exercise without rest between them. Once each super-set is complete, then rest for one and a half to two minutes or more to recover. (5)

3. Training splits: Split system training is a system of weight training that divides training sessions by body regions — usually upper and lower body training. (6)

4. Volume: This is the amount of exercise you do, “high volume” training means that you are doing:

• How much volume is being done per muscle group/body part both per workout AND per week.
• How much volume is being done per exercise.
• How much total volume is being done per workout.
• How much total volume is being done per week. (7)

Incorporating any or all four of these methods into your workout routine can make a dramatic difference.

For example, I am focused on the total number of repetitions (volume) I do per workout session, breaking up my workouts into certain muscle groups (training splits) by doing Legs and Back one day, Shoulders/Arms another day. While I workout, I am doing 2-3 exercises per muscles group, for example 10 parallel bar dips, 10 diamond push ups, and  10 overhead extensions (super sets) and then resting, than I increase the rep count to 11 until I get to 20 reps per exercise (pyramid sets).

As I mentioned before you need to mix it up every single time you workout, because you want to shock the body into growing. It’s all about hard work. If it was easy, everyone would be in fantastic shape, and we both know that is not the case, especially in the states, with 70% of the population being overweight.

In conclusion, how you choose to plan your reps and sets can make the difference between excellence and mediocrity. You need to have a goal, something to aspire to, otherwise, you are just like a ship without a rudder. You have to have a clear direction, an outcome, a purpose.

Once you have the goal, now you just mix and manage with the reps and sets to get you to your goal. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely not boring either. Its hard work, but in the end, the result is to be the best version of you, you can be.

References

(1) http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/types_of_muscle.php
(2) http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/types_of_muscle.php
(3)  http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/types_of_muscle.php
(4) http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dropsets.htm
(5) http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/supersize-your-workout-with-supersets
(6) http://weighttraining.about.com/od/glossary/g/split.htm
(7) http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/weight-training-volume/

No one can be for certain how it came to be.

There are many different schools of thoughts.

Many scholars believe yoga absorbed elements of Stone Age shamanism which dates back at least to 25,000 B.C., and probably earlier. Shamanism is the sacred art of changing one’s awareness to enter extraordinary realms of being and reality. In fact, the word shaman means a seasoned traveler in the spirit realm.

The history of yoga is divided into four broad categories:

1. Vedic
2. Pre-classical
3. Classical
4. Post-classical

The Vedic period (or Vedic age) (ca.1750–500 BCE) was the period in Indian history during which the Vedas (“praise of knowledge”) , the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed.

The Pre-classical period was a time during the Upanishads. Upanishads are a collection of texts of religious and philosophical nature, written in India probably between c. 800 BCE and c. 500 BCE, during a time when Indian society started to question the traditional Vedic religious order

The Classical period, was around the second century  when C.E, Patanjali composed the yoga sutras, which consists of 195 aphorisms. They expound the Raja yoga or the eight-fold path, which are meant to be memorized, as it is not in written form. The earliest known Sanskrit commentary on the sutras is Yoga- Bhashya, byVyasa in the fifth century.

Patanjali’s Eightfold path of Yoga (also called Eight Limbs). These are:

1. Yama, which means social restraints or ethical values;

2. Niyama, which is personal observance of purity, tolerance, and study;

3. Asanas or physical exercises;

4. Pranayama, which means breath control or regulation;

5. Pratyahara or sense withdrawal in preparation for Meditation;

6. Dharana, which is about concentration;

7. Dhyana, which means Meditation; and

8. Samadhi, which means ecstasy.

The Post-Classical period was an era yoga makes a rather sudden shift. It is during this post 18th century period that yoga is introduced into the Western world. During this period, thanks in part to new technology, literature on yoga begins to proliferate

Regardless of it history, yoga is a practice that can tremendously help your physical alignment, flexibility, strength and agility.

The aesthetically pleasing postures (poses) known as asanas are what has become the staple of modern day yoga.

Here are some great pearls of wisdom from David Swenson, Yoga Practitioner. David began practicing yoga since the age of 13.

Here is a great routine from YouTube Expert Sarah Beth: Level: Beginner, Yoga (Hatha) (Time: 20:00 min.)

Here is another fantastic routine from Reed Taylor at Method Yoga: Level: Beginner/Intermediate, Yoga (Power/Vinyasa) (Time: 26:13 min.)

I didn’t realize just how rampant this thief of hopes and aspirations really was until I watched my 10-year-old son.

He will put off just about anything that rings of responsibility.

I realize he is not alone. This is a trait very common among school age children and adults as well. But just because it is unfortunately common, does not mean we are helpless. Quite the contrary.

When it comes to getting things done, I am pretty rigid on this one. I have seen far to many people catch the distraction virus and lose sight of what it is he or she wants to achieve in his or her life.

Time is one of our most precious gifts.

We can use it to our advantage or it can become a huge disadvantage.

On my refrigerator we have the following printed out on a 8 X 11 paper, as a reminder to tend to those things that are most important:

You need to ask two very straightforward questions:

1. Is what you are about to do important?

2. Is what you are about to do urgent?

There are varying degrees to answer these two questions, and really four possible scenarios.

As you can see you just follow the squares and you can then decide your course of action.

The RED color means that whatever you about to embark on it is extremely important. The RED is meant as a warning.

The ORANGE color is in the middle just like a traffic signal light.

The GREEN color is meant to move you to some type of action albeit your own involvement in the process is not required thus you delegate to someone else to complete.

The GREY color are all those items on your to do list that you toss to the waste basket.

23 Procrastination Tips – Pearls of Wisdom

1. Follow your bliss. When you do what makes you happy it is very hard to put it off. Your passion will help keep the fire of productivity alive.
   
2. The first 30-45  minutes of each day devote to work. Routines are important towards getting things done. When you make it a habit to devote the first 30-45 minutes to work each day you will notice that it becomes almost impossible to procrastinate.
   
3. Self awareness. By being self aware you know when your are procrastinating and when its a detriment or a benefit. You also are more attentive of your strengths and weaknesses.
   
4. Block out distractions. With all the latest and greatest technological advances it’s easy to become distracted and major on the minors of life. I personally have LeechBlock installed on my Mozilla Browser to prevent me from getting distracted and watching non-productive YouTube videos.
   
5. Embrace imperfection. We only do the best we can with what we have and where we are. Nothing more and nothing less. Focus on improvement, perfection is not the goal. When we focus on being perfect we sometimes never even begin.
   
6. Make a special date with yourself. Blocking out time for you is probably one of the best tools I use to avoid procrastination. If you don’t make time for yourself you may find that you are doing things you don’t necessarily want to do. Time for yourself leads to the next item.
   
7. Timing. Being aware is one thing, but being time aware is another. Its under promising and over delivering. I handle this by doubling the time for just about everything, sometimes even triple or quadruple. When I say I am going to do something in two weeks, I really know that I could get it done in 1 week but I padded the time to allow for any mishaps. And mishaps happen trust me. You never know when something unexpected pops up that takes you off course. I plan according by doubling the time to any commitment, engagement, appointment, etc.
   
8. Find your best workspace. Your workplace is your sanctuary. Everyone needs a place where they can focus and get whatever it is they need to do. Finding your place is essential because it is your oasis where you can make things happen. Where you can work undisturbed. This is critical and vital to reducing the excuses when it comes to getting things done.
   
9. Set goals. I set goals all the time. I first officially started setting goals when I was 19 when I heard the late Zig Ziglar talk about it. He spoke about the confusion between action and actual accomplishment.
   
10. Break tasks down.
    
11. Prioritize.
12. Find your rhythm.
13. Make up your own rewards.
14. Ask someone else to check up on you.
15. Identify the unpleasant consequences of NOT doing the task.
16. Keep a to-do list.
17. Start easy.
18. Start anywhere.
19. Beware excuses.
20. Don’t rely on memory.
21. Avoid over-thinking.
22. Forgive yourself.
23. Stop blog posts about how to overcome procrastination & just get to work!

In the end, time is our friend when we use it to our advantage and do the very best and most with what we have and with what is possible at the time.

Sometimes just starting something for the first time, can be seem like the hardest thing to do in the world. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be something new it can be finishing something we already have begun.

The trick is remember to take it slow and steady.

If you focus on the whole you might get overwhelmed and just quit. Instead think in small bite sized pieces doing your very best to get it done.

That’s really all you can do.

Let’s take a closer look at what exactly is Street Workout?

According to Wikipedia,

Street workout is a physical activity performed mostly in outdoor parks or public facilities. It is a combination of athletics, calisthenics, and sports. Street Workout is a modern name for body-weight workout in outdoor parks.

In layman’s terms, it’s Calisthenics a.k.a. body-weight training at the park or what might be called a monkey bar gym or jungle gym.

Nowadays, most metropolitan cities and even towns have some sort of outside gym.

For example, here in Spain, I live in this small town of roughly 50,000 people, and we have many great places to practice Calisthenics, outdoors.

Here is a photo:

We must first qualify “park”.

Below is a design of a typical Street Workout park.

I must say, that in truth, I am not an expert on this subject. This is just one person’s slanted perspective.

If I would to compare street workout with calisthenics the two could be considered very similar, however think of street workout as a combination of calisthenics and bar gymnastics exercises

There is even a World Cup Final held each year in a different global location.

The World Street Workout & Calisthenics Federation (WSWCF ) is the current governing body of this sport.

“WSWCF is international non-governmental non-for profit organization operating worldwide pursuant to international law. It was founded on April 08, 2011 and their main office is located in Riga, Latvia.”

To get a better understanding of what street workout is, check out this video (Time 8:06 minutes)

These guys and gals are pretty amazing and border on the incredible.

I have been a fan of street workout for some years now, and it’s great to see with each passing year, that it’s popularity continues to increase.

I would not be surprised to see it become more mainstream in the future and maybe even an Olympic event.

That of course might be wishful thinking on my part.

But certainly Street Workout is becoming a mainstay in the world of health and fitness.