To get the biggest benefits in your strive for strength and
conditioning, you learn to maximize your efforts with the best intentions. This
doesn’t mean you go hardcore everyday, you want to have great recovery as well,
maximum effort doesn’t mean going the hardest or the fastest, it means putting
in the effort to where you're efficient and consistent with your exercise and your
recovery. Doesn’t matter if you’re in the gym, at home, at a park or on the road,
building effort with great intention become your greatest asset.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Maximize Your Strength & Conditioning In Short Time
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wizardry By The Beach
It’s one thing to be apart of something that sparks your
interest, it’s another that when you’re interested in something and you’re near
the sandy beaches of San Diego it’s a whole different ball game. Strength
Training is a tough thing to do once you get a hold of it but at the same time
when you’re having fun with the guys that will push you and maybe make you
laugh, it’s all that much sweeter. The presenters at the Wizard Of StrengthWorkshop will blow you maybe literally out of the water down at the 619.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Building Power And Might The Old Fashioned Way
Ladies and Gentleman, this guest post is one I've been waiting years to finally put up and today's guest is the man that got me my start in the Physical Culture world, a man who's faught his way back from a back injury to bcoming one of the strongest pound for pound athletes in the world today. You know him as the Garage Warrior but also in our circle of friends he's known as the Duke. I give you Mr. Tyler Bramlett.....
The Top 11 Things You Are Doing That Will Prevent You From
Being Super Human
It’ is well known in strength circles that the abilities of
men in the past far exceed the abilities of even our strongest men today. Why
is it that with greater technology, better understanding of the human body and
a firm understanding of biochemistry we are becoming weaker and weaker?
In this article I want to identify the top 11 things you are
possibly doing every day that are preventing you from getting stronger, living
longer and looking good naked.
If not you may need to focus on lifting heavy more often.
Try to get as close to these following numbers as possible and you will be
considered a strong man. 600lb deadlift, 500lb squat, 400lb bench press, 300lb
clean and press, 200lb curl, 200lb bent press, 150lb one arm snatch. Go test your
maxes in these 7 lifts right now and see how far you are from world class!
Now, this doesn’t mean repping out to failure but rather
taking a challenging movement like pressing to handstand or clean and jerking
85% of your max weight and repeating it over and over again until it becomes
easy. Take any move you really want to be good at and choose a challenging
weight or progression and practice it over and over until you master it and it
feels easy!
Here’s my top 5 bodyweight movements, handstand
progressions, bridging progressions, hip and leg strength drills, pullup
progressions and abdominal progressions. What are these progressions? Check out
#4…
In order for you to stay lifting in your older years, you
need to build flexibility. Being flexible will reduce your chances of injuries
and keep you moving for longer and longevity is the name of the game. Stretch
daily and make sure you work on the following 5 stretches; Pike Stretch,
Gymnast Bridge, Front Splits, Side Splits and Downward Dog.
Never fail on an exercise, always leave when you have
succeeded. I know from personal experience how many different times I thought I
could add juts 5 more lbs to the bar and then failed. Take your PR’s and walk,
that’s the bottom line!
Here are some of the best exercises you can choose to
master; snatches, clean and presses or jerks, deadlifts, squats, bench
pressing, dips, handstand pushups, pullups, bridging gymnastics, bent presses,
etc. Look to the exercises that used to be done in the 1800’s to find a
comprehensive list of awesome drills you should use
Here are my favorite muscle building foods: Organ meats
(liver, kidneys etc.), bone broths, all meat, fish and eggs, all veggies, some
fruits, nuts and seeds, high quality grass fed dairy and superfoods like pine
pollen, goji berries and more.
If you want to be strong healthy and recover well from your
workouts, make sure you stretch, get periodic massages, sleep well and focus on
how well you are recovering. Someone once told me that there is no such thing
as overtraining, just under recovering, I believe this!
In order to build your vital life force and increase your
ability to perform the impossible I highly recommend a minimum of 10 minutes a
day collecting energy. This doesn’t have to be in the form of a seated meditation.
You can instead go for a walk (preferably barefoot), and breathe deep,
imagining your are inhaling white light and then exhaling all the bad stuff.
Guys like Bud Jeffries and Logan Christopher are mixing
meditative practices and energy work within their training to enhance their
strength and power. Try adding in 10 deep breathes before each heavy lift and
see what it does for your overall training.
Well, there you have it, the 11 things I see that could be
holes in your game. But I don’t want to leave you empty handed and feeling
depressed because you don’t measure up to the men of the past. So here is what
I want you to do so you can get the best results from this information.
By Tyler Bramlett
Let’s get started.
# 1 – Not Lifting
Enough Weight
You may think your lifting heavy, but compare yourself to
the weightlifting legends of the past. Guys like John Grimek, Henry Stineborn,
Arthur Saxon, Eugene Sandow and Herman Goerner. Can you curl 200lbs, how about
strict press 300lbs or more? In the days before squat racks Henry “Milo”
Steinborn could pick a 550lb barbell off the ground lean it onto his shoulders,
perform a set of squats and then return it to the ground. Can you do even 50%
of this?
# 2 – Not Doing
Enough Volume Training With Heavy Weights
Lifting heavy is crucial, but in order to get good lifting
heavy you must also practice with heavy weights. I was having a discussion with
my good friend Logan Christopher recently and we both agreed that the biggest
hole in both of our games was training hard moves for high volume.
# 3 – Not Doing
Enough Bodyweight Strength Training
Almost every great strongman of the past did some form of
bodyweight training. The great wrestlers of India used bodyweight training to
build their great strength and endurance and many of the old time strongmen
used bodyweight training to bulletproof their joints and make them stronger and
livelonger. So, what should you focus on?
# 4 – Not Using
Proper Movement Progressions
The basic principal behind movement progression is that you
should always be making the movements you are working on harder and harder. A
simple way to think about this is in gymnastics. You don’t go for the iron
cross on the first day, instead you follow a intelligently designed movement
progression mastering each exercise along the way until you are the proud owner
of the iron cross. For more info on this check out a new product I created
called the warrior warm up a 5 step guide to mastering movement.
# 5 – Not Staying
Flexible Enough
Flexibility is highly underrated in the strength world of
today. Very few strong men I meet have a good degree of flexibility. In fact
the only 2 that come to mind are Pavel Tsatsouline and Bud Jeffries. If you can
deadlift over 500lbs and do the side splits, ignore this section, otherwise
listen up!
# 6 – Not Doing
Enough Variety (Or Doing Too Much Variety)
Old timers all had their pet lifts, but that didn’t stop them
from practicing other moves in hopes to build their balance strength and
coordination. This one is quite simple. Master a handful of moves, write down 5
different things you need to accomplish before you die and work on those 5 huge
goals as often as possible. From there have fun, cross train and enjoy trying
different movements. This way you can have your focus but still practice
variety.
# 7 – Always Working
To Your Max
Working to your max or working to failure sends your body a
very distinct message. It says you are always close to failure or even worse in
a bodybuilders case you are failing to lift this weight. The easiest way to get
discouraged and lose momentum is to fail when you are exercising. So follow
this simple rule…
# 8 – Not Using The
Best Movements
Obviously some exercises are better then others, if this
wasn’t the caste then every dumbbell benching meathead would be all around
strong rather then looking like he has toothpicks for legs. Pick exercises that
work the whole body and work them hard. From there train your weak links
(usually the hands and core) and you are good to go.
# 9 – Eating Low
Quality Foods
Fueling your body poorly will hinder you from making any
real progress. The old timers ate piles of high quality natural food and did
nothing else. So fuel your body with high quality organic foods and focus on
eating the foods with the most bang for the buck.
# 10 – Not Focusing
On Recovery
To sustain hard training you also have to be an expert at
recovery. Many of the strongmen of the past did this for a living. Meaning they
woke up, lifted weights, practiced bodyweight movements, worked their grip, ate
good food and then rested, stretched, got massages, took cold baths and slept
as much as they could.
# 11 - Ignoring Your
Internal Energy
The shaolin monks probably are one of the best examples of
mastering their internal energy or life force. Their focused meditation allows
them to perform superhuman feats of strength and endurance. You need this too!
1.
Identify which of the 11 things you are weakest
in
2.
Write a plan to change that weak link and apply
it for 21 days
3.
Revisit this list and identify the next weakest
link
4.
Write a plan to change that weak link and apply
it for 21 days
5.
REPEAT!
That’s all there is too it, Good luck!
Tyler Bramlett is the creator of www.garagewarrior.com a Blog dedicated
to helping people get stronger, live longer, look good naked, find your purpose
and live the life of your dreams. He is a highly knowledgeable expert in
performance based training, nutrition, psychological motivation and he is the
author of The Warrior Warm Up which can be found at www.thewarriorwarmup.com
Friday, September 21, 2012
The Unknown Benefits Of Handstand Training
In the world of Physical Culture, a lot of things come and
go, some things work, some don’t and others just have a way of taking things to
a whole new level and one way to look at is looking at the world upside down.
In training of the handstands, this teaches you to look at things from a different
perspective and I mean this literally, when you hold a handstand either up
against the wall or free-handed, you have to teach your body how to use it from
a very different light. Think about it while you read this.
It’s not easy at first to get into a handstand, believe me I know how you feel. At first it seems scary, like waking up in a different place and don’t understand where you’re at. With practice, you learn to shut that off and become comfortable in your new surroundings. Eventually when you hold a handstand, you will find out right away that you can’t be very loose otherwise you’ll fall. Keeping the body tight is essential to your progress. Holding the position isn’t just an exercise, it’s a test of will.
It’s all about looking outside the box and using your body in ways that other things can’t transfer over. If you’re interested in Hand Balancing, practice it not just to hold a handstand but hold it and move it with intense will from your mind and your body together, you will see things from a new light you never thought of and find some unknown benefits that they didn’t teach in the course. You’ll know once you experience it, it’s a feeling you can’t get from anything else.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Making Little Things Count
Have you ever crammed for a test before whether it was in
high school, college or studying for a high degree? We all one way or another
have done this, you study a little and lay off for a while but just before test
day, you have to get everything sorted together all at one time just to even
make it there. A lot of people in the fitness world or even going to the gym
have done this and where does it really lead them? They have to rush to the
gym, change, get their cardio and weights in and that’ll be their workout
before they really feel exhausted and out of it when they get home and have no
energy. This is not the positive and productive way to exercise.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Help Each Other, Don’t Bully Each Other
In life there are many things that we cannot stop from happening and one of them is bullies. There have been organizations around the country including one my friend Bud Jeffries is apart of. Behind one good there’s always a bad guy and bullies just happen to be there. In the fitness world it’s no different, sometimes it’s worse and sometimes it’s just a pain in the ass. Being a bully doesn’t get you anywhere.
Off Topic: There are still tickets available to the Wizards Of Strength Workshop in San Diego , CA and we have a new book waiting for you by the Nebraskan Wildman himself Steve Justa.
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Astounding Strength & Grace Of Acrobats & Gymnasts
Friday, September 14, 2012
Muscle Control For Arm Wrestling
You’re on the table, arm is locked and loaded for the match of your life, muscles contract and you’re ready for battle, ready, set and go.Muscle Control is one of the best forms of conditioning your body to contract and relax whenever you want. You can use Muscle Control for just about anything, even lifting an imaginary weight. In an arm wrestling match, it’s not just how strong you are or if you have the biggest arms on the planet, it’s the ability to contract the muscles needed and the strength of your tendons to keep your opponent at bay. Imagine yourself in a match and you’re teaching your body to use the specific muscles needed and eventually it becomes a full body contraction.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Hammer Conditioning
There are many ways to get in awesome shape, you can use your bodyweight, work with weights or better yet use cool tools that are not only awesome looking but you’re getting more bang for your buck than you can imagine. Ever heard of training with a Hammer? Of course you don’t, you’re either one of those people that goes to a gym, play around with a few machines, work very light weight and call yourself in shape or you’re one of those guys or gals that doesn’t get anywhere no matter what you do and you just quit at the drop of a hat. I’m here to tell you that getting fit is not only a cool thing to do but it also keeps you energized and have a zest for life you didn’t think existed. The best fitness advice anyone can ever give you is to have fun with what you do. Training with a hammer, better yet a Thor Hammer gives you that mystical feeling that you’re training like the warriors of generations past.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Put Your Back Into It
Stretching the spine and back muscles is one of the most important aspects of Physical Training and that’s because the spine gives us that electric charge from the brain to the cord itself. You can get injured with a broken wrist, I’ve had my legs broken and had my ribs nearly crushed but having a broken back if worse a broken spinal cord, the chances of coming back are slim to none. Keeping yourself flexible in that area gives the rest of your body that power and supercharged.
One of the best exercises you can do for your back is the Bridge. This exercise alone can help bring that powerful charge in the spine into a level of strength you couldn’t have imagined before, you can do this in the Wrestler’s Bridge (aka neck bridge) on the head or the Gymnastic Bridge (wheel pose for you Yoga maniacs). There are many ways to do the Bridge and you can even do certain athletic moves while in those positions.
Your body will become a fitness machine and it doesn’t take more than a few minutes a day. At 240+ lbs. I can hold a wrestler’s bridge for three minutes anytime I want and can hold quite well on the gymnastic bridge and am in better shape because of these exercises than I ever did when I was training with weights in my teens. I’ve even become stronger in the weights through some of this type of training and I’ve kept getting stronger every time I go to the weights without touching them for months at a time. Not saying this can happen for you but with practice and learning different things, you’ll be surprised what you can do outside of that type of training. Keep your back strong and spine stronger, it’ll thank you in the end, I guarantee it.
Monday, September 10, 2012
How To Feed Your Vampire Strength
Being a fan of vampires ever since the Blade films has had me gotten me quite anxious as to how they have their powers, from reading books to watching the films to learning Physical Culture there has to be some way to have that type of power. I realize some of you aren’t vampire fans and don’t like seeing someone being bit on the neck and have blood gushing out but come on, in some cases you got to look outside the box and lurk into the mystery, romance and fierce power of The Creature Of The Night.
Every little thing counts. When you learn to exercise throughout the day, you’re feeding your energy to increase your alertness, strength and fitness, do not do so much it drains you, doing tons of reps on every exercise is not always the thing to do, putting in too much can make you weak, it’s like a vampire taking in too much blood when he/she feeds, take too much, it could die. Whenever you can, sneak in an exercise and just do enough to wear it gets you fired up, you can even do it when you wake up or when you’re ready for bed. You do have power beyond belief and to harness them, we must use our minds and our bodies together in unison to create that perfect harmony and consistency just for you. Find your inner Vampire and learn to use the powers already within reach, it’s only a matter of time before you have been bitten, risen from the dead and have new, profound strength and monstrous power that nobody can take a hold of. Have you been bitten yet?
Friday, September 7, 2012
Becoming A Monster
I don’t always lift barbells and dumbbells but when I do, I want to feel like one of the legendary Old-time Strongmen from generations past. Back in the day before cardio machines and the chrome and fern palaces of Cosmetic Bodybuilding, if you wanted to be fit and strong, you busted your ass in the gym or wherever you wanted to workout. Training in the gym like at York Barbell or sunny Venice Beach , you put in workouts that made you come back for more. Back then, you had guys that were monstrous not just in size but just as equaled strength and fitness.
An idea that Bud brings to the table is not new but to most people today, they would think it’s from a different planet and that’s using weights in a circular fashion. Conditioning in circles is a relatively cool concept where whether with bodyweight or using a dumbbell, you learn to use exercise in a clockwork type fashion. This type of training from a different perspective can aid in your conditioning workouts, now I’m going to let Bud tell you about that because he’s got more in his brain on it than I do.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Getting In Shape While Gambling
When was the last time you heard about doing that? When you
gamble, you usually sit at a table or a slot machine and sometimes you stand at
the Roulette wheels. Now this might be the most interesting and very unusual
way to stay in shape while money is being won or lost so let me give you my
take on it.
Labels:
Bud Jeffries,
Cards,
control,
Exercise,
gambling,
Isometrics,
Legendary Strength,
Legs,
Logan Christopher,
Machine,
muscle,
Muscle Control,
Muscle Reminders,
Resistance,
self,
Slot,
Squeeze,
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