'Punching a heavy bag': Good for more than boxing or cardio workouts

You probably wouldn't guess you'd find a recommendation for punching a heavy bag
within the pages of a book on how to live up to your potential. Then again, 'R
elease Your Brakes' by the late James Newman is anything but your recurring self
-improvement work reflecting the current state of that genre as it packs a good
length of shelving at your local bookstore. It was published in 1977, precedin
g many works in the peak performance category. Yet surprisingly, its layman styl
e writing covers insights and techniques that are treated as "new" or "technical
" in contemporary books of its genre that are less eloquent in delivery.
So where does 'punching a heavy bag' come into play when discussing self-improve
ment and peak performance?

Punching a heavy bag

'Punching a heavy bag': Good for more than boxing or cardio workouts
In one of the final chapters, Mr. Newman discusses how when we hold stress insid
e, it can build into chemical imbalances that can eventually lead to serious ill
ness. He doesn't elaborate on the specific chemical imbalances, but one can surm
ise that a major culprit he was referring to is cortisol. Chronic stress can lea
d to chronically high cortisol levels, which contribute to the following:
Higher blood pressure
Lower testosterone levels
Suppressed thyroid function
Decreased muscle mass and strength
Impaired cognitive performance
Increased abdominal fat (this can contribute to a whole list of health problems)
The remedy?
Try using a regular regimen of what Mr. Newman referred to as 'Gross Physical Im
pact Activity.' He defined these as exercises which "involve impact but do not r
equire skill." If we play golf, we sometimes build more stress through the game
than we release. The same thing goes for tennis or other competitive sports. Han
dball or racquetball are effective when engaged in by ourselves for practice. Bu
t punching a heavy bag, chopping a bunch of fire wood, or beating the dust out o
f a bunch of throw rugs would rank right up there as the best methods for releas
ing the potentially harmful stress that can build up in our systems.
So how often should 'punching a heavy bag' be part of your stress-release strate
gy?
Jim Newman recommended two applications of this method: As a preventive device a
nd as a remedy when one feels the stress building up. He liked to go with at lea
st twice a week for the preventive method and as soon as the body and emotions s
ignal us in the second case. This would be when we feel things like:
Pressure from our jobs
When things aren't going as smoothly as we'd like around the house
When we experience a major change in our lives
So next time you think you can't handle more stress in your life, try punching a
heavy bag on a regular basis and watch your stress tolerance and performance go

up.
I'm nearly finished reading this book by a man who was apparently ahead of his t
ime. He said what so many have said since, but in a more straight-forward manne
r than they. Mr. Newman provided the tools for catapulting one's performance an
d life to the peak of achievement, and didn't pull any punches in the process (n
o pun intended).
Posted at 11:03 PM in Health and Fitness | ?Permalink | ?Comments (2)
Tags: Bodybuilding, Fitness, Health, Managing Stress

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Comments

scott@hardbodysuccess
Hello B.C.
Thank you for sharing your experience of a MAJOR cortisol releaser. Most of us e
xperience some levels of stress that are high enough to release detrimental amou
nts of this antagonistic hormone. However, 'agoraphobia' is certainly a bigger c
hallenge than most of us have to face in the context of "stress." I'm glad to he
ar you've taken control of it and I appreciate the tip on American Ginseng.