Thursday, August 21, 2014

I'm Rationally Mean

Last night, I saw this video where my lovely daughter, Ronda, told the media that I made her get on the mat and do push-ups 6 days after her knee surgery, which is true. She said that after her last fight, she had both knee surgery and stitches in her hand, so I came over to her house, told her that her stomach was fine and made her do her ab workout in front of me. That is also true. In fact, I came over a few days and did that and did the workout with her. Days when I was out of town or too busy, I got her two older sisters go over and do her ab workout with her.

You might think I'm irrationally mean to have no sympathy for someone who has stitches in TWO parts of her body, who just had surgery and just won a fight in 16 seconds.

Well, I might be mean but I'm not irrationally mean.

Here are a few things I've noticed over the years:
  • Elite athletes get accustomed to physical training and when they can't train, they get depressed. Being able to do even part of their regular workout, to break a sweat, makes them feel a little more their normal selves. I can guarantee you that Ronda felt better after she got out of bed and did her normal ab work out. I, on the other hand, did not, because I am old and my normal ab workout consists of sitting up and getting out of bed.
  • If you are not planning on retiring after an injury, then you need to get back in shape. The fewer muscles you let atrophy, the easier getting back into shape will be. If you exercise any muscles that are not injured, you may even gain strength in those areas. At worst, you will have less of a hole to climb out of than if you had spent your recovery period sitting on the couch eating ice cream. The sooner you start working out, the better off you will be. If you have a body part that is injured, it only makes sense to work on that during physical therapy and work whatever else you can the rest of the time.
  • Athletes who are in a sport that requires weight cutting never like cutting weight because no sane person likes cutting weight. When they are injured, it is very tempting to use that as an excuse to eat bon bons and sit on the couch, because everyone would like that lifestyle if it had no consequences, and hey, I'm injured. But guess what, it does have consequences because now you have 10 pounds more to cut and you are recovering from a knee injury so you shouldn't be running it off. 
  • Injuries can lead to a vicious circle where the athlete does not train, is depressed, overeats, is depressed about being overweight and out-of-shape, so lays in bed and overeats more. 
  • Sometimes, athletes get so frustrated that they are losing muscle mass and gaining weight that they start working out too soon, causing re-injury and the whole cycle starts over.
  • An injury can be an excuse, "I can't work out because my knee is hurt."

Just in life in general, I've noticed people are often looking for an excuse not to win. It's hard to train. It's hard to run a business. It's hard to write a book. It's hard to raise a family. I can't because --

Just stop it!

I think it's best to live life without excuses, to focus on what you can do instead of what you can't. I apply that to everything. I was writing a paper for a software conference and there was an update to the software. When I looked in the documentation for my problem it said, "see usage guide" and when I looked at the link for usage guide it said, "coming soon". Now, if I could see into the future, I don't know what I'd be doing but I wouldn't be writing programs for statistical analysis, I'm pretty sure.

I pouted for about two seconds, and then I decided to write this post instead. You're welcome.

Speaking of books, Jim Pedro, Sr. & I wrote one on Winning on the Ground. You should buy it because it has good stuff in it about winning. On the ground.

Or, you can get our game, Spirit Lake, which teaches math and lets you shoot buffalo that go "Moo" (maturity is overrated).

We've had our next game, Fish Lake, in beta for a while. It should be ready for commercial release in a few weeks. I knew you were just dying to know what was going on in my life and why I haven't been blogging so much. Now you know.

P. S.  I have also noticed that the more successful people get, the more everyone else around them is inclined to tell them what they want to hear, "You're injured. You don't need to work out. You deserve to sit on the couch eating chocolate covered strawberries and playing Pokemon all day."

I have tried telling Ronda that those people are NOT her friends, that at best they are polite stalkers, but she will find out I'm right. Just like that one time I told her that she would be better off if she traded in that boyfriend for a monkey. She ended up wishing she had a monkey.


8 comments:

Cindy said...

Ha! It is a good article on 'not making excuses'. I did remember she went back to the gym after she was medically-cleared. It was mentioned in twitterverse just before her media tour of Expendables 3 and the Macau trip. Hope she would do some exercises in China. I live in Hong Kong and have been travelled to Macau. We do have some good foods and it's pretty hard to ignore that. Some of her future rivals are working very hard on defeating her so she needs to be aware of that. Good luck with her and her future plans!

Anonymous said...

Nice, you know I love you. Youre the best. Thanks so much for always being so good to me and for being in my corner. Now was the boyfriend referring to someone that lived in IL, someone in Europe, or is this the newest one ?? :)

mike ripple said...

I thought she was going to Macau only to assist Dana in promoting UFC until I saw her in that purple dress...and everything that came afterwards. What a work ethic you have instilled in that young woman! Bravo Mrs. D, Bravo...and to think she is doing all that without the need to have a monkey or a boyfriend.
Keep the drive in high gear, RondaRousey!!
What a sense of pride you must feel, Mrs. DeMars.

Y'all take care...can't wait until Jan 3rd!#!#

Al B Here said...

Dr AnnMaria,

From what I vaguely recall from my kinesiology courses a decade ago, the body does, in fact, go into a state of depression if it stops a regular workout routine. Something about endorphins released during exercise, etc, etc, so it's not exclusive to elite athletes. It might just be more evident with them since most of us are inactive and inherently lazy. So for what it's worth, I agree with your efforts.

Dr. AnnMaria said...

Cindy -
Yes, the food in Hongkong is amazing. Ronda called me a couple of days ago talking about how good the restaurant was where she ate the night before. I didn't get the name of it - but Hongkong is full of great places to eat, as I recall

Cindy said...

Can I guess the restaurant Ronda mentioned is 'China Club'? Dana White mentioned it and had dinner with her there. It is a high-class one in Central, pretty close to her hotel. The foods are excellent and the place is quite popular with tourists.

Martin B From Sunnyvale Cali said...

Just bought the math program my nephew is alittle young for it but its never too late to be prepared!! I also I love math so this will be interesting to test it out first after work today!

THANK YOU!

Maybe make one for younger kids??? Idk.... like adding and all that stuff??? He is four but Basic math like that is usally pretty easy to learn...well at least for Math people?

I also bough your book awhile ago!!! I will read it before my next tournament, THANKS AGAIN!

Anonymous said...

"Mean?" That's just what weaklings call it. The most annoying thing is having a coach or mentor who subscribes to the idea that resting is more beneficial than pushing through. "Do only as much as you can!" I don't need anyone's pity and besides, my capabilities are boundless! That kind of mentality is for planet fitness regulars not for those weaned on the Koryu Martial Arts, which is something that never leaves them!