GMB Elements

This weekend I attended a disc golf tournament. I didn't take part in the tournament itself, I was just there to support it. While there, I took the opportunity to run around and have some fun with the kids. I don't remember last time I had that much energetic stamina. I could keep up with them all!

One of my favorite parts was with the organizer's kid. We were bear crawling up hills, hopping like frogs down, and moving like monkeys. It was great fun doing that without gasping for breathe after 5 minutes. Or course, Anyone who's followed me this year may recognize those moves I referenced. They are the keys to GMB's Elements.

Looking back, I remember when I first found out about GMB Elements. I was looking for an exercise routine to get into shape. Elements was one of my final choices, but in the end there were 3 reasons why I didn't pick it.

1. Because I felt it would be too elementary for me.
2. I wasn't interested in flexibility, just getting into shape.
3. Stronglifts is free and came with a handy app to track progress.

Reasons (or Excuses)

Let me tell you how wrong I was about the elementariness of the Elements routine. More than once, I collapsed before the warm-ups was over. The energy and focus to hold a squat opener when you've evaded stretching for 30 years is ridiculous! More than once, my daily exercise consisted of lying on the mat, exhausted.

I also found flexibility and stabilization is important for strength training. Without a stable surface, you can not build a strong structure. You can only get so high before your form crumbles and if lucky, you don't injure yourself when you get there.

Once I could deadlift my bodyweight and started focusing on my form, I saw I was doing so many things wrong!

• My back was in compromising positions.
• My legs weren't steady and it was causing lower body issues.
• I was getting plantar faciastis from over compensating.

Don't get me wrong, the training material was great. It's that my listening material is not so much. I tried to rush through the program for max gains and am a bad representation. I recommend trying the routine. I don't recommend rushing through it.

Last reason, I didn't think Elements was worth $75 when I first saw it. Why pay that much money to walk like a bear, monkey, or frog? It is a ton more in-depth. In fact, the information in the 1st week overwhelmed my lazy self so much, I ended up doing it twice. There is a lot of material you can go through and the video tutorials with Ryan and Junior are quite in depth.

I came to find out, Like in Stronglifts, I tended to rush through the program. I attack the more difficult variations before I have a grip on the easier variations. Yes, it's a consistency of mine. I'm impatient. I am working on my mindfulness and patience.

Findings

Elements kicked my butt, but I'm getting stronger, more capable. Before, when I recorded my movements, it was just for self evaluation. But now I'm at the point where I'm doing cool stuff and I kinda want to share it. So I am! I think the stuff I'm doing is great!

What's more, I can do it anywhere Just today I bear crawled and did 'baby parkour' in front of a hotel before lunch. It was great! It's also a lot less embarrassing now that I've done it a few times. A few people with me are now interested in the program. it's cool showing people cool stuff.

Anyway, I'm trying to be more reflective. This was on my mind. I wrote it down. Now I'm sharing it with you. Icing on the cake, here's some videos I was talking about. If you enjoy them, toss me a like and comment. See you next time.