Meditation and Strength

I was surprised to see so much interest in the meditation/strength intersection in betawave's thread, so I thought I'd start a new thread so beta can have his practice thread back.

I'm pretty intensely into both meditation and strength training, and I sometimes think about their intersections.

One issue I think about sometimes is mindfulness while lifting. One of the reasons I like squatting so much is that it requires concentration. It's mentally as well as physically engaging, because there's so much going on. If you're just doing a machine exercise, the machine dictates the path the weight takes. Muscle, bone, and tendon take up that slack when you're balancing the bar on your back, bringing it in a straight line down into the hole, and driving it straight back up. If you don't want your back to bend like a pretzel, you better pay attention to what you're doing and not be thinking about something else. And since human misery seems to be directly correlated with how much our mind wanders, perhaps there's an argument to be made that doing barbell exercises makes you happier than doing machines.

It's also interesting to watch what the mind does (in retrospect) during sets. I lift best when my eyes are in tight focus on a spot in front of me, and my attention is on my cues (sit back, chest up, etc.) and nothing else. As soon as the set is over, the mental focus widens a little. Vision is sharper, because of all the blood flow to the eyes. Judgments start up. "I feel strong today," "My form sucked," "Why are these people standing so close to me?", "This is a cool song," etc. And then after a few minutes, the attention has to be gathered again in preparation for the next set.

I'm generally not that mindful between sets, but I'm tempted to work on it to see if it makes any difference to my workout.

The best fit I have found is the kettlebell, mainly because it sits in my living room. I can get a good 15-30 minute workout without having to pack a gym bag, and then get back to practicing. I'm pretty greedy about practice time lately and couldn't imagine getting in the car to go to a gym, taking 1-2 hours out of the day. Also, I'm a cheap SOB.

I believe there was a Buddhist Geeks episode about this topic recently...? Hatha yoga and traditional martial arts also incorporate the principles you're talking about really well.

I found this kind of attention/mindfulness also intersected with some balance-related sports I used to do, such as downhill skiing and competitive horseback riding. You need to be fully present, fluid, relaxed and responsive, super attentive, mindful of the body, etc. Let your mind wander and you have an accident. I suspect structured forms of dance would be similar too.

"The best fit I have found is the kettlebell, mainly because it sits in my living room. I can get a good 15-30 minute workout without having to pack a gym bag, and then get back to practicing. I'm pretty greedy about practice time lately and couldn't imagine getting in the car to go to a gym, taking 1-2 hours out of the day. Also, I'm a cheap SOB.

I believe there was a Buddhist Geeks episode about this topic recently...? Hatha yoga and traditional martial arts also incorporate the principles you're talking about really well."

I don't often use my kettlebell (I built it out of plumbing parts), but I brought it with me on my last retreat.

www.buddhistgeeks.com/2012/03/bg-249-str...ening-the-body-mind/

I tried d/ling the first couple chapters of his book off his website, but for some reason it wasn't working. Did anyone end up reading the book? How was it?

Weightlifting used to be a big part of my life from 18 to 25. Enjoyed lifting heavy and it was a way to get rid of frustration and anger something I carried a lot of those days. Quit when I fell in to depression and started seeking else where and ended up with the spiritual improvement instead of the big muscle decease.

Can't really find that drive to lift anymore now I do iyengar yoga and bike back and fort to work to keep a little bit of movement in the system. So damn lazy these days

"I found this kind of attention/mindfulness also intersected with some balance-related sports I used to do, such as downhill skiing and competitive horseback riding. You need to be fully present, fluid, relaxed and responsive, super attentive, mindful of the body, etc. Let your mind wander and you have an accident. I suspect structured forms of dance would be similar too."

Mental engagement is helpful when doing physical activities or when meditating. I think if I just had to stay with the breath without expecting anything (which seems to be how meditation is often taught), I'd quickly get tired of it. But I was really intrigued by the idea of investigating phenomena for the three characteristics. Noting is also a nice technique because it gives you something to do with your mind (even if it's just naming things).

I have found may way back to picking up heavy things because it helps to chill out the massive amount of kyras and head tension that I seem to accumulate. I am a MUCH more balanced person when I have constant body sensations arising (even soreness), which I only seem to consistently get if I lift really heavy.

Its also amazing how much my body will yell and swear at itself to get that darn weight up even when the mind is in perfect equanimity.

Its also interesting how my mindset has changed for volume/conditioning workouts - I experience far less pain and a lot more curiosity about whether or not my body can possibly go another 5 seconds.

Wow, this sure is a great thread!
Haven't lifted heavy for years. Just doing some station training nowadays.
Seem to get into a very narrow exercise focus during these workouts since I hardly see anyone else around me, but still after all this time in the meditation biz wouldn't know what jhana was if it came and bit me in the rear.

Hmmm... wondering if I need to find some time and a place with bars and bumper plates (my apetite has been wet

" www.buddhistgeeks.com/2012/03/bg-249-str...ening-the-body-mind/

I tried d/ling the first couple chapters of his book off his website, but for some reason it wasn't working. Did anyone end up reading the book? How was it?"

Thanks.
Gonna listen to it!
Didn't find his book though?
EDIT: Ahh, found it on Amazon, but no download parts.

This discussion was helpful in reminding me about this connection between mindfulness, meditation and exercise, which was relevant to a conversation yesterday with a friend struggling with a beginner practice. Thanks!

I found exercise helpful when I was going through the first dark night. I'd get off the cushion and feel spaced out and like I had just taken a quarter hit of acid. So I'd go to the gym, lift heavy, and then eat a bacon cheeseburger from Five Guys. Regrounded things quite a bit!

It helps less when you've been stuck in dark night for months on end like I am now.

long time runners can access the 4th jhana

If you don't squat to at least parallel and keep your back tight, you will be forever stuck in brutal re-observation. Heed my warnings!

In all seriousness though, a big Smolov cycle combined with near continuos grounding/noting preceded my big shift last year. It's hard to spin out in discursive thinking when you are
barely able to finish that last set. High volume squats are lovely for learning surrender.

Back from my SL 5x5 session a few hours ago...

I find practice after weight lifting much harder than usual.
The body is buzzing too much.

BTW, deadlift is a very special exercise since it requires the most total commitment one can give.

It's hillarious how much I'm learning about the lifting scene from KFD. I had never heard of GOMAD or Smolov, etc. until these threads!

"If you don't squat to at least parallel and keep your back tight, you will be forever stuck in brutal re-observation. Heed my warnings! "

Hahaha!

If you do enough high volume squats, you'll see Buddha walk through the door.

I just realized I don't know squat!
(Oh, sorry for that one... I'll let myself out the back door...)

Lifting geekery, meditation geekery, computer geekery... Makes me wonder what other kinds of geekery are represented here.

Man, this crew's got mad skillz -)

As meditation attainments are openly spoken about here lets not be shy with our lifting ones

I can't do this now but this are my gym path's. bench 135kg = 287,5 lb , squat 210kg =463 lb and deadlift 240kg = 530 lb.

Those where the days my ass and quads grew so i had to wear hip hop pants. But to be honest i prefer the smaller lighter version of me I was feeling clumsy and I'm much happier now with the inner strength training to be honest.

Feel a little inspired to start again reading this thread though. But I doubt it will happen.

"BTW, deadlift is a very special exercise since it requires the most total commitment one can give.
"

I agree on that one it's an amazing feeling when that weight leaves the floor. And as I am a bad bencher, which annoyingly was the measurement of strength among testosterone filled guys in my youth. I take the deadlift as the real strength test and I know many strength geeks would agree.

I only started a linear progression 9 weeks ago. Before that, I mostly focused on being skinny (which I was successful at). Here's what I've done in 9 weeks:

Body weight: 142 lbs -> 170 lbs
Squat: 115 lbs -> 190 lbs
Bench: 105 -> 140
Deadlift: 125 -> 235
Press: 60 -> 100
Power Clean: 45 -> 100

Here's my hardcore dharma linear progression:

Started in mid-January.
A&P: 3/10/12
Stream-entry: 4/7/12
2nd path: 6/6/12

The principles are similar. You start off with a linear progression, and then once you hit the intermediate stage (after 2nd path), the programming becomes more complex.

Now if you'll excuse me, there's a giant bowl of peanut butter ice cream waiting for me.

Wow, you put on 28 lbs in 9 weeks?! I was doing GOMAD (Gallon of Milk a Day) and gained 17 lbs in 21 days but felt absolutely terrible.

I like the book "Easy Strength" by Dan John and Pavel.

"

Body weight: 142 lbs -> 170 lbs
Squat: 115 lbs -> 190 lbs
Bench: 105 -> 140
Deadlift: 125 -> 235
Press: 60 -> 100
Power Clean: 45 -> 100


"

That's nice gains keep at it!

I can't do GOMAD. It makes me feel absolutely terrible, too.