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Weekly Challenge #51

Straight front leg extensions – This exercise helps to strengthen your core muscles and your quads, muscle groups used regularly in martial arts and day to day activities. Start from standing straight with your feet together and toes forward. Keeping both knees straight, extend a leg forward to as close to a ninety degree angle as you can. Using your quads and core muscles, hold this position for 30 seconds and alternate legs. To ensure that you target the correct muscles, ensure that you keep your posture without leaning forwards or backwards, and just let your arms hang by your sides. Try 3 reps for each leg – It’s a lot harder than it sounds!

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Appreciate Art – Visit an art gallery this week. When you find a piece you like, think about what drew you to it and what that says about you – this journey into self-awareness helps to broaden the mind of a martial artist. You may broaden your understanding of art, and at the very least you will find yourself exposed to unique artistic expressions. Mind-numbing television shows and cookie-cutter popcorn movies can be fun, but have eroded away at some of our ability to comprehend things which are unique and profound.

Good luck

Philip Woo

Weekly Challenge #46

Hip Bridges – This exercise helps to strengthen your lower back muscles, abs and your rear. These bridges also can help to reduce lower back pain. Start by lying on your back with your feet flat and knees bent. Tighten your abdominal muscles and pull your hips up until you form a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Hold this position for 10 – 15 seconds, then release – repeat this 10 – 15 times. This is a super simple exercise to do right when you wake up!

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What You Don’t Like – Figure out something that you don’t like. Maybe a particular genre of music, sport, or art – and learn about it. Read a book, watch documentaries, try it out, or however you like. Learning helps us to understand, empathize, and respect. Martial artists and non-martial artists alike strive to live in a world filled with respect and empathy, and this one exercise illustrates how simple it is to be the change.

Good luck

Philip Woo

Weekly Challenge #45

Staying on track with your exercise and fitness goals means that even when on holidays we need to make time for regular activity. Even as little as 15 minutes a day can help you maintain your health and fitness levels. Challenge yourself every day until August to do one of these three tasks: 1) 15 minute walk, jog, or swim; 2) 15 minutes of stretching; 3) 15 minutes of martial arts practice. Regular activity is an investment in your self – stay active and stay healthy!

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Spend time with your family – Find out how they are doing; what their goals and plans are; do things that you all enjoy together! Email, call, visit, lunch – any amount of time you invest in family is time you will benefit from. Let’s not forget that our family almost always has our best interests in mind, so open communication and healthy relationships will help you too.

 Good luck

Philip Woo

Weekly Challenge #44

Outward Arm Rotations – This exercise is a super way to strengthen and tone the upper arm and shoulders! Start with your elbows tucked right to the side of your body, with your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle forward. Then, with a comfortable weight in each hand, slowly open your forearms outward and then close. Be sure to keep your back straight and your forearms parallel to the ground for the entire movement. Try 3 sets of 10 reps every day this week!

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Overcoming Failure – We fail as a regular part of achieving and this is what makes us try hard. I’m not trying to console the hearts of failed achievers, but simply to illuminate the path to success. The natural momentum of life feels halted when we fail, and that’s when our ambition and motivation should be kicking in. When we fail we tend to think that we are falling back, but really we are only realizing that we are standing still or not moving at the pace needed. This week, write down something you failed at, and then write out the solution. Trace the steps necessary to complete the solution, and determine if the effort is worth the achievement. If it is, then do it!

 Good luck

Philip Woo

Weekly Challenge #43

Front Arm Raise – This exercise helps to work the shoulder and upper arm, both building strength and toning the area. Start from standing straight with your arms by your sides with comfortable light weights. Alternating arms raise your straightened arm up to your shoulder height and slowly lower it down. Try 3 sets of 10 repetitions (both arms) each day this week!

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Problem Solving, Not Avoiding – In our lives we encounter many problems that we simply avoid. Avoidance is a perfectly passable option for problems that are non-recurring issues that are not problems for others. However, if a problem is recurring, or impacts others negatively, then we should challenge ourselves to fix it. By taking ownership of a problem and fixing it we become problem solvers, and not problem avoiders. It’s an incredibly empowering idea, but one that is often underused. This week look into your own life – home, work, interpersonal – and find problems that you’ve been avoiding and not solving. Maybe it’s a health issue; perhaps it’s a fitness issue, or a personal issue. Once you’ve identified it, fix it! Don’t forget to solve any challenges that come up this week too!

Good luck

Philip Woo

Weekly Challenge #34

Superman Stretch – Lying down on your stomach with toes pointed and your arms stretched above your head, raise your head, arms and legs a few inches off the floor. Hold the position for 10 – 30 seconds for 3 – 5 repetitions. This stretch helps to strengthen the lower back and can help in reducing lower back pain.

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Make a list of the people who have had a positive impact on you: 2 from the past week, 5 from the last month, and 10 from the past year. Go down the list and find a way to show your appreciation for as many of the people you listed as possible! This will help us to realize and appreciate how much we are interconnected with each other. We can have a tremendous impact on those around us – make it a positive impact!

Good luck

Philip Woo

Weekly Challenge #33

Take a Walk – A little walk will provide you with a great deal of benefits! Try walking for 30 to 60 minutes, 3 to 5 times this week. Throw on some comfortable shoes and take a walk for your physical and mental health!

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No Disposable Cups – The amount of waste we generate on a daily basis can be dramatically reduced if we simply shift from disposable to reusable cups. Challenge yourself to use no disposable cups this week by bringing your own reusable cup with you.

Good luck

Philip Woo

Weekly Challenge #32

Rear Leg Extensions – Starting with your hands and knees on the ground and being sure to maintain a straight back, extend your leg straight out in line with your body and bring your knee in to your chest. 20 to 30 extensions per leg each day this week will be a super way to tone one’s bottom. You might even want to add some variations to the sets, by adding in small leg circles, or leaving the leg extended for an extra second or two!

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Go through your winter clothes (or all your clothes for that matter) and set aside those that you won’t ever wear again. A good indication is if you haven’t worn the item in the past year. Take them to a charity or mission of your choice. Through this we manage to minimize clutter while extending the garment’s lifetime, all while helping those in need!

Good luck

Philip Woo

Weekly Challenge #31

Bicep Curls – 30 to 60 curls with reasonable weights each day this week. Ensuring a smooth lift and descent, without body sway will allow you to safely isolate the muscle group. Toning and building the biceps are fairly rewarding exercises, and may motivate you to keep up the regular workouts!

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Reduce Waste – The amount of waste that we create on a daily basis is tremendous, but the number of ways that we can reduce it is only limited to our imaginations. Spend 30 minutes this week researching different ways that you can reduce the amount of waste that we generate at home – and adopt those methods! Oh, and put that reusable grocery bag IN your car.

Good luck

Weekly Challenge #30

Arm circles – Circle your arms while they are extended fully outwards at your shoulder height. This is a super simple exercise for toning your shoulders, and there is a lot of room for variation as well: you can add weights, extend your arms forwards, shift from circles to flutters, or combine the arm circles with another exercise! Try to do the circles as long as you can without letting your arms drop every day this week – your shoulders will feel the difference.

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Mend a broken relationship – Examine the reasons behind a broken relationship, and try to wrap your head around how you might fix it. Consider the value of the relationship, as it may sway the importance you place on the reasons that caused the break originally.

Good luck

Philip Woo