Hello guys and girls.
Hope you are well.

My name is Mislav and I wanted to talk to you about a topic that is becoming increasingly popular lately.
Let me start with a simple graph.

Yearly cycle of interest

Google Trends - Interest for physical exercise over time

Graph alone can tell us a lot about the topic so it would be useful to analyse it.

Right off the bat, we can notice trends yearly periodicality.
We can also notice the interest for exercise plummets as the end of year is closing in.
But hey, when Mr. January is in the house we start to feel different.
We will become better at everything we do! Including being fit. And exercising more frequently. Nothing is stopping us!

So we start the year filled with energy and enthusiasm which peaks in April and then slowly drops until November. In December we don't really give a *uck. To hell with the exercising!

It's also noteworthy fact that the interest is rising over longer period of time.

You could say, well, that seems like a good thing, doesn't it?? Things getting more popular.
Generally speaking, yes. But in this case, it's also interesting to see why is this happening.

The problem is that it isn't getting popular because people want to,
or desire to do exercise, but because they have to.

I would like to change that.

Sitting generation

We've all heard that sitting whole day is not good for our health.
But how bad is it really?

Google Trends - Back Pain as a symptom

Data says it is really bad. Never in history have people done so much sedentary work.
I could now tell you all about how electrical activity in the leg muscles shuts off as soon as you sit.
Or how your calorie burning and fat breaking enzymes levels drop significantly. Or that people who sit a lot have increased chances of dying early or acquiring diabetes through life.

But that's just scary stories. Pointing out the negatives doesn't do much of an impact to people's conscience.
We love to feel it on our own skin. When we felt it good, then we are ready to say: "Yeah... Why I am I in this mess in the first place!?"

I prefer a different approach. We'll come to that later.

So, why do we still don't care?

The issue I see here is that it messes our body slowly so we don't see a consequence of ditching today's workout. And if we don't have consequences for not doing it, why should we do it?

Well. You got me there. No reason. Only reason is that it will be easier for your future self.
At least, that's what I've been telling myself.

Getting your attention

But who am I to talk to you about all this?

I am not a licensed fitness trainer neither did I study kinesiology.

I am a Computer Science graduate student who is sitting in front of the computer for the last 15 years.
And has decided to do something about it. To be honest, my mother decided to do something about it.
It wasn't until late teenager years that I realized how big of a favor has she done for me.

What did she do?

When I was 9 years old she applied me for dance practices.
So I've trained Latin American and Standard dances for 10 years.
Yes, I know. It sounds gay. It looks gay. It is gay. But is also a hell of a workout for your whole body.

If it wasn't for dancing I would look like a Gollum crawling through the darkness searching for a good posture.

I've always wanted to get bigger. Maybe it was because I was picked last when playing sports in school, or because I realized that being muscular is a plus in almost every activity. Nevertheless, my mother said that is the stupidest thing she ever heard.

In the age of 17 I realized I am not that into dancing. Also I've outgrown my mother and naturally, I searched for another activity. Ended up in a gym.

Here is a picture of me 17 years old before any kind of physical exercise except dancing.

As you can see, I am a Rocky mountain of 132 lbs (60 kg).

A girl on the right was stronger than me which is the reason I cut her out of the picture.

I remember clear as day that I was not able to do a single wide pull up. I'm not even talking about the form.
I also remember the trainer telling to me afterwards: "If it was that easy, everyone would be strong."
It comforted me only slightly. I was feeling like a weakling.

Fast forward 3 years

I am senior gym visitor. Feeling stronger. I even started helping the people I found disorientedly cruising around the gym, catching the nearest free dumbbells and doing biceps curl or triceps extensions.

I am feeling like a Hulk. I am less green, but still a Hulk.

Remember guys, this is the physique I've been training for 3 years in the gym.
That is a 22 lbs improvement over the period of 3 years. I was very proud at that moment.
Decided to take a picture that I'll once use to write a post.

But oh boy, if I only knew that I was on the beginning of my journey.

Public workout

The moment I realized I don't need to train in a gym enlightened me. I don't know why I did not think of it sooner.

Maybe because no one mentioned it?

It's free, there is no line in front of the machines, no dumb music, you are breathing fresh air, there is not a single face who cares about what you are doing. They are walking through the park, you are doing pullups. No one cares. Of course, there are times when company is appreciated, but most of the time I find it unnecessary and distracting.

I am lucky enough that I live in the centre of the city (Zagreb) but still have a access to beautiful park in my vicinity.

Tuskanac park in Zagreb

In fact, I have access to multiple parks to which I usually travel by bike.

Maksimir park in Zagreb

Jarun lake in Zagreb

Bundek lake in Zagreb

This opened whole new spectrum of possibilities. I bought gymnastics rings and a jumping rope.

Fast forward 6 months

I was happy with the progress. I won't lie and say it wasn't partial to good lighting to some degree.

Anyway, I took a few pictures in next year, but none seemed to visually surpass my current physique state.

Fast forward a year

Frequently there was a thought running through my head: "Is this the best way I could use my time?
If this is so good, why parks aren't full of people exercising?"

Judging by the amount of posts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, everyone is mad about good physique. Yet I'm alone in the park...

In the winter I trained in the gym (only because of the weather conditions), as soon as first birds sang, I ran outside and trained outside until next winter.

Progress was inevitable. Here I'm weighing 176 lbs (80kg).
In the whole process I gained about 44 lbs (20kg) of weight. If I may dare, I'd say the most of it was muscle.

Fast forward another year

This is the current state of affairs.

I've stopped with the pure workout scheme because I fulfilled my goals.

I'm 5'11''(180 cm) in height and 176 lbs (80 kg) in weight.

Now I can finally stop building muscle and concentrate on a skill of some kind.

I chose muay thai (Thailand kickbox).

And it's all I ever wanted:

• It's physically exhausting
• Has a good amount of cardio (which I was missing when I gave up dancing)
• Throwing kicks and punches lengthens your muscles, they won't be formed like those of a bodybuilder who has limited range of movement
• You learn how to accept a punch
• You learn not to fight outside of the gym
• It keeps you in the moment. Teaches you that if you lose focus on 5 sec during 3 min round, you can end up on the floor

There is plenty of where that came from but I would need another post to explain what a muay thai is.

Tips & Tricks

Let me offer you some tips. I always found short concise sentences more informative than a post full of *hit:

• Physical exercise isn't fun. It's actually pain in the ass. It can be fun if you make it interesting. But most of the time I'd rather stay here reading Steemit trending than doing push ups or pull ups.
• It is not that important to have excruciatingly difficult training. It is more important to do it frequently. So 4x45min (including warm up and stretching) is better than 2x1.5h weekly. Muscles need about 2 days to recover. Then they are ready to be targeted again. So if you have more than 2 days between workouts you are wasting time.
• Every beginning is hard. Learning new things is hard. Confronting yourself to limits of your body is hard. Pushing them is even harder. Now I can understand why marathon runners are usually older guys. They have the power of will.
• Mix things up. I can not emphasize how important this is. Athletic physique comes from a variety of movement. Don't limit yourself to 15 exercises you do in the same order over and over again. Mix ranges, reps, holds, exercises, places, equipment, duration, everything you could think of. I personally haven't done 2 same training sessions since I've started thinking about it. This is also one of the ways to keep it fun. I create my training schedule when I come to the workout place.
• Proteins help but they are not magic. They are beneficial in the way that after training our body wants nutrients. It's pretty hard to eat a chicken breasts or eggs after a hard workout. That's why you can drink some proteins. Include glucose in the shake, it helps with raising insulin which helps in disintegration of proteins. I'd say they make less than 5% of the success. I use them if I won't be home in an hour of the workout.
• It takes about a month to see the exercise results. The things you do today will be visible about a month from now.
• Take pictures. That's the best way to see progress.
• Buy gymnastics rings (30$ Ebay). They bring another dimension into workout. If you haven't tried them before, you don't know whats workout.
• Always warm up before exercises! Injuries happen mostly because of muscles, joints or tendons aren't ready. For me this is the toughest part. 10 minutes of pure boredom.
• Always stretch after the exercise! It really helps. Think of it like removing water from a wet towel. You would rotate his ends until all the water comes out. That's what stretching is about! It also lengthens your muscle and improves flexibility. You can do it through the training if you like.
• Include any kind of cardio. Preferably lasting 30-45 mins. Running, jumping rope, cycling, rowing, soccer, basketball, swimming, rollerblading....
• Do the exercises with a strict form! After the 3 years of the gym, a friend told me that my left shoulder is significantly higher during the pull up exercise. At first I didn't care, but then another guy mentioned it. I tried to do it with the both shoulders in the same level, and it hurt like hell. I was a senior gym member which was unable to do 2 strict pull ups. I felt like a weakling again.
• Screw the quantity! 100 push ups in a row?? 30 pull ups? 100 sit ups? Who are you? A Olympic class gymnast? I still can't do more than 10-12 strict pull ups or 25 strict push ups.
• Your testosterone levels are highest from 18-28 years old. And testosterone is the no. 1 muscle booster and fat eraser. This means that you'll have to do less work if you start exercising early in your life.
• *uck the will for training! It will leave you after 3 good workouts. You need discipline. I can't tell how many times I've come to training and was feeling down but I just knew that I will feel better after the workout (endorphins rush hehe)
• Think about your goals. We don't all have the same goals. Do what moves you closer to your goals. Create your tactic. Don't do stuff just because it is easy and you are feeling secure in that area.
• If you want your life to change, do something different.

Bonus videos

Maybe it's interesting to see how does the execution of the same exercise look 2.5 years apart.

Old form - pullups

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This doesn't look like a strict form. Legs are bent, my body is running all around. No control of downward movement.

Current form - pullups

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This is closer to the strict form. Legs straight, body isn't moving. Better control of downward movement.

Russian pull ups

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When I started I couldn't do one. That's why I don't have a video to compare to.

Gymnastic rings dips

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Things get much more difficult to do when vertex is 3.5 meters from center of gravity.
When I practice with my rings they are much lower and that's why it isn't that hard.

Conclusion

Please don't mind me missing some information.
There is a lot running through my head. I could make this post miles long.
As soon as I press post button I'll think of another million things that I could've shared with you.

The obligatory progress picture (07.01.'14 -- 08.07.'16):

I think there is more than enough material concerning the exercises for the interested that they can find it through the Internet so I will not disclose any of that. I don't want this to turn in to some fitness post.

I simply wanted to share some motivation for you guys. The point is not 3-6-9-12 month body transformation.
The point is your life.
In healthy body lives a healthy mind. Don't you forget that.

For the end, I'll leave you with a thought.

"We are collecting money our whole life, and in the end we'll give it all just to get our health back."

Don't let that happen to you. Act now.