Integral Bodybuilding, Part One

 

A.K.A: Kenji in the Twilight

My dogs Kiko and Kenji (left to right).  The reason for their picture at the start of this essay will make sense shortly.

Conversations on Integral Bodybuilding

Part One: A Somewhat Rambling Introduction to Integral Hypertrophy Training

     I was tired.  I had spent the last hour cutting grass, running my weed eater, planting Asian lilies, and watering my gardens.  I was hot and sweaty, too.  If I still drank, I would have popped open a cold beer—porters and stouts were always my favorite—but I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol in over a year.  I have a disease that robbed me of that particular joy, so I settled on a bottle of refrigerated mineral water.  It was refreshing, and what my body needed, anyway.

     The sun was setting.  Twilight was upon the land.  The last vestiges of orange sunlight slipped through the canopy of trees at the edge of the rolling hills of my property.  I settled into a comfy lawn chair on my back porch and basked in the luminous glow of the day’s end.  My dog Kenji—whose full name is Miyamoto Ninjago Kenji Musashi—plopped down on the ground next to me, yawned, and then looked up at me with expectant eyes.  I petted his head, knowing what he wanted.  I really need to finish my last essay, I thought to myself as I rubbed on his jet-black head.  I had hit upon a bit of writer’s block earlier in the day and was hoping that some yard work would reignite my creative muse, as it often does, but at the moment I felt more like taking a nap than writing.

     “I really wish you would start that essay on the nature of consciousness and why it’s not an epiphenomenon of the brain, as all those foolishly atheistic neuroscientists are so wont to believe these days,” Kenji said.  “You know, the one you were pondering in bed last night as you drifted off to sleep while rubbing my belly.”

     I must be more tired than I had thought and drifted off to sleep now, I reasoned.  My dog was seven years old and this was the first time he had elected to speak.  I suppose innumerable questions should have sprung to my mind, but I simply asked, “Why do you sound like Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments?”

     “I wasn’t aware that I did,” he replied.  “Besides, Heston always sounded the same in everything he played.  You might as well have picked Planet of the Apes.”

     I shrugged, guessing my canine companion was probably correct as I attempted a mental note of a Heston filmography.

     “You could have picked Soylent Green, for that matter,” he continued, without missing a beat.  Now that he had chosen to finally speak, he was in no apparent hurry to stop.  “What did you expect me to sound like?  McGruff the Crime Dog from your adolescence?”

     “How do you know about McGruff?  You’re only seven,” I pointed out, trying to remember the last time that I had seen the anthropomorphic crime-fighting canine on any television commercials.  Perhaps he is still around in a more modern version and Kenji had seen him in an ad while I was watching the news or something.

     “Well, that’s not really true, and you already know it.  I’m quite aware that this incarnation of me is only seven, but when have I ever not been?  When have any of us, for that matter, Kiko included?”  He nodded in the direction of his sister, who was busy rolling around on the ground with one of her favorite stuffed animals and tossing it into the air periodically.

     “Is this why you want me to write the essay on consciousness?” I asked.  “I haven’t started, or even thought about starting, because I don’t really know where I would start.  Besides, there are better authors than I to tackle such a thing.”

     “It never hurts to have another voice in the arena, especially with the overwhelming prevalence of the materialistic perspective in your culture.”

     I decided to change subjects.  “No, I didn’t expect you to sound like McGruff.  At least, I don’t think I did.  Perhaps I expected Toshiro Mifune,” I said, thinking of the most famous Japanese actor of the 20th century, not to mention one of my childhood idols.

     My dog wasn’t prepared to relent.  “It was you who was Kenji, not me, back when you were my retainer at the start of the first Tokugawa Shogunate, anyway.  But I guess that’s why you thought of the name in the first place.  And I understand why you gave me the other names: Miyamoto, Musashi, Ninjago—those are personal to you in this life.”

     “All of them are, really,” I protested.  “Kenji comes from Kenji Misumi, the director of the Lone Wolf and Cub movies, along with some of my favorite Zatoichi flicks.”

     “Maybe, but that’s only part of it.”  He looked as if he half shrugged.

     “Well, at least I thought that’s where I got your name.  Besides, Kenji means ‘great son’ in Japanese, so I figured it was a fitting name to bestow you with.”

     Flattery, apparently, wasn’t going to get me anywhere.  “Let’s get back to the subject of the primacy of consciousness,” he said.

     “I didn’t think we were on the subject to begin with.  You are on the subject.”  Instead of being amazed at my talking dog, I was slightly annoyed that he kept bringing up the matter.  “But, okay, since you’re the one that remembers your past lives, why don’t you tell me something about it?”

     “I never said that I did remember my past lives.  In fact, the only thing I do remember is you being my retainer.  It’s not as if I’m Manjushri or any other Divine Bodhisattva.  I was a man then.  I’m a dog now.  What I have been in between, I really couldn’t tell you.  Perhaps if we put our heads together, however, we can come up with something, though, on the Nature of Mind Itself.”

     “I'll tell you what,” I interjected.  “Help me with my ‘integral bodybuilding’ article and then we can discuss consciousness at a later date.  Besides, it might be that some of my thoughts on an integral vision of hypertrophy-building will overlap.  Do we have a deal?”

     I couldn’t really tell, him being a dog and everything, but I thought he was pondering over the offer.  “Okay, deal.  I’ll ask you some questions—be the interviewer, so to speak—and maybe it’ll jog your mind out of your presumed writer’s block.”

     I was the one who shrugged this time.  “Okay, sounds good, I guess.”

     “What do you even mean by integral bodybuilding to begin with?”

     I ran my hand through my long, gray hair and then stroked my beard, which was now more silver than gray.  “Well, I originally intended for my blog ‘Integral Strength’ to be a place where I would discuss the intersection of mind, body, and spirit—or Spirit, really, with a capital S.  I was inspired, at the time, by the writings of Ken Wilber and his whole ‘integral theory.’  But I got a bit disillusioned over some of his writings, and then more than a little disillusioned.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still consider myself to be an integralist, I just began to see some of the shortcomings—or at least what I thought were shortcomings—in Wilber’s writings around 15 years ago.  I still want to write ‘integral’ subjects—in fact, I have been pondering more than just a few—though some readers will probably view them as ‘hybrid’ training programs rather than integral ones.”

     “Did you become disillusioned with Wilber’s theories around the time you became Eastern Orthodox?” my dog asked.  He still sounded like Charlton Heston, but a concerned version of the dead actor.

     “Well, that disillusionment probably led me to the Orthodox Church.  Then, I became so enthralled by the liturgical mysticism of the Orthodox Church that I figured I’d, at the very least, set aside the integral stuff for a while.  But, now, I’m ready to return to it.  Right now, though, I want to write an essay on integrating various physical dimensions of training, not necessarily anything spiritual, per se, though I do, eventually, want to start including some of that within it.”  I wanted to change subjects momentarily.  “How did you know about the Orthodox stuff?”

     “That’s a dumb question.  It’s not as if I have to read your mind to be able to do that.  We are psychically connected, that’s true.  It’s the reason I always know when you’re coming home, for instance, without anyone telling me.  But all I have to do is look around our house, with the plethora of iconography, or look at the covers of all the books you’re reading, or the prayer rope on your wrist, or the three-barred cross hanging from your neck to know how much Orthodox spirituality means to you personally.  Besides, I have lived with you for seven years.  I’ve heard all of your various apologetic conversations defending Eastern Christianity and your Neo-Perennialist versions of it.  But now you’re the one getting off track.  What’s the importance of being an integral bodybuilder?  Why it rather than just old-school bodybuilding that you’re so clearly a fan of?”

     “Well, and that’s actually a good question, in many ways old-school bodybuilding, especially what is often called the ‘Silver age’ of classical bodybuilders, was integral back then.  Silver era bodybuilders combined bodybuilding with Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, gymnastics, and were very conscious of health, not just building larger muscles at all costs.  The most popular magazine back then was called Strength & Health, after all.  They were more like yogis than what we think of as bodybuilders in its modern context.

     “There’s more to it than just that, however.  Too many modern bodybuilders approach training, too, as if it’s nothing more than ‘science.’  Because of that tendency, a lot of modern lifters think that there is only one way to train.  Their way, of course.  But I find such a view to be, at the very least, misguided.  At worst, it’s the reason so many modern trainees never make any gains, or any appreciable ones.”

     “Yeah, I’ve heard my brothers talk about ‘science-based lifting’ on something called YouTube.  Sounds like a lot of people are constantly arguing on that little box you’re always writing on.”

     By his “brothers,” Kenji meant my sons Matthew and Garrett.  I was trying to figure out how he could understand the philosophy of consciousness but didn’t seem to grasp computers, but I let it go for the time being.  “Yeah, a lot of trainees seem to think that there’s only one way to train, and that science somehow holds all the answers.”

     My philosopher dog was nodding now.  “Scientism is the worst.  I guess it’s infested more than just consciousness studies, huh?”

     “I didn’t think about it that way, but I guess you’re correct.”  After I spoke, he looked at me as if to say of course, I’m right, but he didn’t bother actually giving voice to it.  I suppose he didn’t figure that he had to.

     “How, then, would you approach training from an integral standpoint?” he asked.

     “Well, to start with, especially if you’re new to bodybuilding and haven’t built much, or any, muscle, you shouldn’t worry about doing anything ‘integral.’  You just need to get on a good, basic muscle-building program.  This usually means a 3-days-per-week, full-body routine.  Once you’ve trained on that for, preferably, a year or so, but at least 6 months, then you can start integrating together different methods.

     “All bodybuilders—and this is something else, whether you’re aware of it or not, son, that I’m constantly ‘preaching’ in the articles and essays that I write—need to properly manipulate the 3 training variables of frequency, intensity, and volume.  Two of those variables need to be high—or one high and the other moderate—and the remaining variable needs to be low.  This is an integral approach, in a way, itself.  Because it’s not saying that there is only one way to train.  Rather, there are multiple ways to train, depending on your goals and your body structure, genetics, and whatnot.”

     “Hmmm, I guess that’s interesting.  I’ve watched you lift weights in the garage a lot.  I find it boring, but that’s only because of this current body-mind complex that I inhabit.  I’d rather ponder the nature of consciousness and Reality, and the intersection of the two, than build any muscle.  I have seen a few of my kind that were rather muscle-bound, when you take me and Kiko to the dog park.  Those dogs always seem a bit egotistical, not to mention a little stupid.  Maybe they were one of your bodybuilding friends in a past life.”

     I laughed.  Couldn’t help it.  “Maybe you shouldn’t be so judgmental over your fellow breeds.  I had a dog like that before you.  Maybe that’s something you don’t know.  He was a Rottweiler named Conan.  Best dog, before you and Kiko, that I ever had, matter-of-fact.”

     Kenji seemed to ponder this bit of information.  “Yes, I knew that, but only because I’ve heard you discuss him before with my brothers.”  He also seemed to grow a bit melancholy for the moment.  “I know I’m not your biological child, but you are my father and I do love you, perhaps more than you understand.”

     I smiled, and then petted his head and massaged his thick neck.  “I know you do.  I love you, too.  I think I tell you that enough.”

      He seemed to smile, then said, “Okay, back to our subject.  What should a bodybuilder do if he wants to use an integral approach to his training once he’s ready for it?”

     “Well,” I replied, “once he’s settled on a program that works for his body type, he should use that for the most part, but he should also, at least periodically, include other training modes into his program.  So, just to use it as an example, the most popular kind of program in today’s training world is one that uses high volume, high intensity, and low frequency.  This means that the bodybuilder typically trains with a lot of sets, fairly high reps, works out really hard, and then gives his body plenty of time to recover between workouts.  If that works for him, fine, but he should also include some ‘strongman’ style training, some speed training (what’s commonly called the ‘dynamic effort’ method), some maximal effort training by using workouts where he’s training close to his one-rep maximum, and, finally, he should also utilize some workouts that involve multiple sets of low reps.”

     “That’s what you mean by integral training?  Sounds as if he’s just doing a lot of different workouts.”  Kenji didn’t sound convinced.

     “Well, he needs to ensure that it’s planned correctly.  Most of the time he should just stick with his ‘regular’ workouts—probably 75 to 80% of the time.  But the other 20-25% should involve one of those other methods.”

     “And what do you mean by strongman training?”

     “It doesn’t have to be anything complex,” I replied.  “It simply means that some training days should focus on stuff such as farmer walks, tire flips, dragging a sled, sandbag or stone carries, or pushing this thing called a ‘Prowler.’  You’ve seen me and your brothers do some of it, like when we carry thick-handled dumbbells around the property or pick up that big, blue bag sitting next to the driveway.  It’s filled with rocks, weighs about 100 pounds, and is a great implement for building ‘real world’ strength and power, not just muscle mass.”  I made an air quote signal with my hands when I said the words “real world” to give emphasis.

     “Oh, yeah.  That looks kind of fun.  It’s the only kind of training that I would like to do.  I like to drag heavy things around our property some days.”

     “I know,” I said, smiling.  “I don’t know if you remember, but when you were a puppy, you used to dig up trees I planted and drag them all over the yard.  You even dragged a giant bush through the doggy door one day.  I came home from lunch to find our foyer covered in mud and you sitting there next to it with what looked like a big ol’ grin on your face.”

     I’m not sure, but I think he looked slightly embarrassed.  “If I do remember that, I’m not saying.  I’ll plead the fifth, as they say on television.”

     “I wasn’t sure if you even watched TV.”

     “Sometimes.  I just don’t understand it.  Nothing looks quite right.  I don’t think my brain processes the images the way humans do.  I enjoy listening to it more.  Let’s get back to your article ideas, though, so we can get around to discussing the primacy of consciousness.  Speaking of listening, I’ve heard you discuss this working out stuff with my brothers enough to know that you like something called ‘high-frequency training.’  How would you make it fit into an integral framework?”

     “That’s another good question,” I said.  “I thought you didn’t listen to our conversations and just liked to sleep while we talked unless you were getting some pets.”

     “I listen.  Well, some of the time.”

     “Anyway, yeah, high-frequency training is my preferred method, especially when combined with full-body workouts.  So, if a bodybuilder is using full-body workouts and training 3 days a week, he should use a method where he gets between 30 and 50 reps, on average, for each muscle group at each workout.  So, he might do something like 4 to 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps, or even just 6 sets of 6 reps.  That’s what he should do most of the time, mind you.  But every, say, 4th workout, he would throw in one of the other methods, whether it’s dynamic effort training, multiple sets of low reps, maximal effort workouts, or a strongman session.  If he does that, he will end up getting much better results in the long run.”

     “Interesting, I guess.  I mean, for humans.  Are you telling me other humans enjoy reading about this stuff?”

     I laughed.  “Yeah, believe it or not, they do.  Well, some of them.  The ones that read my blog, at least.”

     “What are some other components that make a training plan integral?  I’m assuming there’s more to it than what we’ve discussed so far, right?”

     “Sure.  Absolutely there is.  From a training perspective, workouts should involve more than just the hybridization of training modes that I just discussed.  It should include a cardiovascular component, for one.  Even guys that are only after muscle mass, and have no interest in losing bodyfat at the moment, need to do some cardio training.  At the very least, this improves blood flow to the muscles, which means when they do train, they will get a much better pump in the muscles that are being worked.  A muscle that ‘pumps’ easily also tends to grow in size quicker.  So, that’s one component.  It doesn’t have to be intense, or even hard.  It could involve something as simple as going for a long, leisurely walk as soon as the bodybuilder is finished with his weight session.  However, there are also some benefits from utilizing harder workouts, such as something called high-intensity interval training, where the bodybuilder might combine walking with occasional bursts of sprints.  And there are benefits to doing other hard cardiovascular activities that challenges your body in unique ways that it’s not used to, such as my personal favorite, martial arts.  In addition to cardio, though, I would also include something like yoga, Tai Chi, or qigong.  The stretching component of these, particularly with yoga, are beneficial for muscles, but there are other benefits, as well.  These can really help with recovery by relieving stress and keeping the muscles, along with the joints and ligaments, pliable and loose.  Even beginning bodybuilders, who are doing basic, full-body workouts, should include some of these components from the start.”

     Kenji looked up at me.  I was petting him while talking, and I was unsure how much he was paying attention until then.  “Now, you’ve piqued my interest.”

     “Really?”

     “Of course.  Before it was all gross body stuff, but now you’re talking about subtle body practice, which means that we’re getting closer to the causal body and that can only be reached through spiritual and meditative practices, and that means we’re finally going to discuss consciousness as the root and ground of Being.”

     “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said.  “Let’s take it one step at a time.  We’ll get there eventually.”  I wasn’t sure if he was capable, but it looked momentarily as if he rolled his eyes.  “Besides, the whole gross, subtle, causal framework is just that—a framework.  There are other ways that this can be approached, I think, without resorting to, I suppose you would call it, vedantic terminology.”

     “That’s the only framework I understand.  At least, I guess it is.”  He started thumping his paw on my foot, the way someone taps a pencil on a desk when they’re thinking.  “Well, there’s also the whole Shingon cosmological methodology, but I just think it’s too abstract—I guess I remember it from our Tokugawa days.  The framework of modern Vedanta, especially the kind espoused by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, is easier to understand.  I think that’s why its terminology has made its way into the vernacular of modernity.”

     I wanted to get back to my integral bodybuilding discussion, but I just couldn’t help myself at this point.  “So, are you a Buddhist or a Vedantist?”

     “I haven’t really thought about it.”

     “What do you mean ‘you haven’t thought about it’?  You’ve been contemplating the nature of mind, apparently, the whole time that I’ve had you, but you haven’t decided what religion fits your view of consciousness?”

     “I am a dog, you know?”

     “Yeah, I kinda noticed.”

     “Well, I don’t think I’m a Buddhist.  They don’t think anyone but humans can attain Nirvana, so they’re on the outs with me at the moment.”

     “The Tibetan Vajrayanas believe that dogs are Bodhisattvas,” I interjected, in an attempt to make him feel better about his dog-hood.  “At least, I think that’s correct.  Outside of some dzogchen philosophy, I’m not that well-read on their views.”

     Kenji didn’t seem to pay attention to my interjection.  “I suppose I should be a Vedantin, perhaps of the Advaita Vedanta orientation.  That sage Ramana Maharshi thought his cow Lakshmi had attained moksha, after all.”

     “I seem to recall reading something about that one time, back when I studied the various Vedantic philosophies.”

     “Also, I like your religion.  Not the modern American Protestant low church version.  They don’t even think my kind have souls, but I do like the Greeks and Slavs, and all those others that you are always hanging out with.  I think I can get on board with apokatastasis, the restoration of all things where you, me, Kiko, my brothers and all of creation will be restored to a state of supreme bliss.  Also, I’m at the very least intrigued over the Sophiology of the Russian priest and theologian Sergei Bulgakov and the entire rest of the ‘Russian Renaissance’.”

     “Have you been reading some of my books?” I asked, wondering where he’d picked up all of his information and esoteric terminology.

     “Dogs can’t read, silly.  I’ve listened to enough of the stuff you listen to, though.  You do listen to a lot of audio books when we take rides, Dad.”

     “I didn’t know dogs could speak, either, until about 10 minutes ago, so I figured that reading might not be out of the question.  We’re getting off on some tangential subjects.  Let’s get back to our integral hypertrophy discussion.”

     “Okay,” he acquiesced.  “Where were we?  Oh, yeah, the benefits of subtle body practices—even if you don’t necessarily want to refer to them as that.  How should one of your readers integrate those practices into her training?”

     “There are different approaches.  Ideally, I think they should be integrated into one workout.  For example, and I think you will appreciate this idea, even before your workout you should start with a short period of meditation and prayer.  Theists such as myself might start by praying.  This has practical benefits of centering you before a workout, but it also puts everything in its proper place by placing God first and foremost in everything that you do in life.  Non-theists can practice some form of meditation during this time.  Once you are grounded in, to use your term, this causal state, you then move on to a short period of yoga, Tai Chi, qigong, or even just a standing period of meditation using a body-awareness practice.  When that is complete, then you start with your resistance training.  After your lifting, you can then do all of this in reverse order, by doing 5 to 10 minutes of yoga, Tai Chi, etc., and then finishing with a short period of prayer or meditation.”

     “Can you keep the practices separate and do them at different times of the day?”

     “If you want to go deeper with your integral bodybuilding, not only should you do that but you must do that.  You can still do exactly what I just recommended above at the start and end of your weight training, but you should also have separate periods of practice.  Twenty to thirty minutes of prayer or meditation to begin and end your day, and another 20 to 30 minutes of—once again, to use your preferred terminology—some sort of subtle body practice at least once per day would be good.  Those are also great practices for your ‘off days,’ when you aren’t lifting any weights.”

     Kenji yawned deeply.  The sun had set, and the hum of cicadas reverberated through the pines and oaks covering my land.  “This is all quite intriguing but I think I’m ready for a nap,” he said.

     “Yeah, that’s not surprising.  You do sleep about half the day.”

     I yawned, as well.  Apparently, it’s even contagious from dogs.  I felt as if I was drifting off to sleep.  My head fell forward, and I yanked it upright.  “Kenji, I think I’m going to go take a shower.  We can continue this conversation later and go deeper.  As much as I’ve loved talking to you, I need to get all this pollen off me.”

     Kenji looked up at me.  He licked my sweaty arm, as if he was letting me know he could clean me himself if I wanted.  “Does that sound like a plan?” I asked.

     He didn’t respond.  I looked around.  It seemed darker than it should be.  Had I fallen asleep and dreamed a dream of my talkative, philosophically knowledgeable canine companion?

     Kenji stood up.  He seemed ready to go inside, too.  I opened the back door.  Kiko heard it open and came running to the house.  We all walked in together.  They went to their water bowl in the kitchen and drank deeply.

     I felt an odd mixture of sadness and joy.  I couldn’t decide whether I wanted my talking dog to be real or not.  It was a bit disconcerting either way, but at least it had given me some ideas for my article on integral hypertrophy training.  Maybe my writer’s block had been broken.  If nothing else, I had plenty of ideas on bodybuilding, consciousness, and everything in between swirling around the recesses of my mind.  Now, all I had to do was write about it.

     If you actually made it to the end of this essay, then I hope you found it informative, or at least entertaining and provided some food for thought.  If you want more essays, then please consider purchasing my book “Ultimate Mass and Power Essays.”  You can find more information about it, and all of my other books, at the My Books page.  Purchasing my books helps to support my writing and ensures that I can continue writing this blog.

     As always, of course, if you have any questions or comments about this article, please leave them in the “comments” section below.  If you want more conversations with Kenji, let me know that, as well.  I enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you enjoyed reading it.