Monday, March 31, 2014

Training Comes With A Price

            What you believe in is your choice. Some people prefer weights over bodyweight, some loath weights and find them useless for any given strength; the truth of the matter is to find what’s suited to you and really only you. When you become comfortable in the way you train, take it a step further and challenge it a little, mix things up, make the exercises harder, experiment with different tempos, speeds and play.

            Not everyone will agree with what you do and that’s ok. You are unique and your body responds differently, so train according to how your body responds to the training you create and experiment with. Me personally, I like different styles that I mold into my own. I do a little gymnastics, a little weights, animal movements, natural movements, bending steel and whatever I can come up with. If you’re into one particular style and that’s it more power to you. I'm a big man and I've been told I shouldn't be able to do the things I do but you know what, I love it and that’s what is important.

            Be open and share who you are but also use it as a positive influence. There are great trainers and fitness guys out there who are awesome at what they do but their attitude needs a little shaping. I’m not asking you to change who you are, you're awesome in your own right but a positive attitude is a key to success. I believe in helping others and giving them tools with a smile and bringing love and care to help them be successful but there are some out there who are bitter and treat certain people calling them whiners and whatnot, this isn't the military, these are human beings trying to find what can work for them.

            Have a kick ass attitude, sometimes a little tough love to help reach their potential but to a degree. If you're overweight and want to drop a few pounds, I'm not going to tell you upfront you're fat or put you down like some people I know but I will tell you this; the battle is on you and how you win it is up to you, if you want to lose weight, take it one step at a time, I’m not going to hold you your hand but to be motivated is to believe even for a fraction that you can make something happen. If you're rail thin and need to put on some muscle, same principle applies, believe even if it’s down to the smallest fraction that it could be possible, it’s a start and progress upward one fraction at a time.


            I know what it’s like to not be motivated, to give up, being depressed because of my weight or because I'm not as strong or fit as the guy next to me in the gym, I've been there and I've had a wake up call that is a little extreme than most people. You are a very strong person even if you don’t know it yet, the power is there and it’s edging to come out. You're not a loser and you don't need to listen to some bullshit people who drag you down, you are mighty and you are powerful, it takes practice but you can bring it out. That to me is the price of training, to find your true self and how you apply it to everything else in your life.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

My Theory On Pro Wrestlers Training

  
>>>>>Don't Believe It All<<<<<



            I've always advocated since I was 20 years old to not believe everything that is said in the muscle magazines especially with a celebrity on the cover. I've never done pro wrestling or even trained to become one but I have put in a lot of study, trained in the old-time strongman game and looked into a lot of athletes and the way they trained so that’s why it’s a theory. Don’t believe all the training you read about a wrestler in a magazine because you may not realize that it’s not all there.

            For the most part when you read about a wrestler’s routine in the magazines or on the net or whatever, you've got to look at another angle from what you're reading or listening to. For the most part I’m not doubting those guys bust their ass day in and out but they're not telling you the whole story. When you read a routine you automatically think that’s exactly what they do, not all true. Think about it, for a full-time wrestler, they travel up to 300 days out of the year at best, they get if they’re lucky a good hour or so of training at the gym or so and eat, than get to the arena for the night’s show to cut promos, tapings and do a 10-30 min. match. There’s no way in hell they can train that hard nearly every day or up to 4 times a week and not be completely exhausted. Most of those guys train pretty simple while on the road and I’ll talk about that in just a bit.

            Back in the old days when the bodybuilding craze was just for those who were actually into it, athletes who traveled a lot like wrestlers did, gyms weren't that popular, you'd be lucky to find one in a few cities in the entire state. Most of those guys relied on what they can find useful but for the most part did bodyweight training and wrestled. Let me give you an example: Lou Thesz, one of the all-time greats who can go an hour with just about anyone who can keep up with him, he probably lifted a few weights here and there but mostly Push-ups, Bridging and Wrestling were his mainstays on the road. Ric Flair; 16-time world champ and the king of hour long broadways, carried a deck of cards with him and at the studios where promos and most of the matches occurred, he would put himself through Push-ups, Sit-ups & Squats, if he happened to find a gym on the road he used it to the best he could. Karl Gotch did practically nothing but Bodyweight exercises on the road and it kept him in phenomenal shape.

            Superstar Billy Graham was practically the first wrestler who took the bodybuilding look and made it the focal point of today’s wrestlers such as John Cena, Batista, Triple H, Scott Steiner and others. When you train like that plus are on the road for practically a full year with only 7-10 days being at home, it puts a whole new level of perspective and how really all that contributes to the way they eat, rested and what have you. Simplistic Training for a Pro Wrestler is doing enough exercise for both strength and endurance that are at a very different level than most athletes and using compound and full body exercises.

            Today, gyms are practically in every damn city in the entire country and provide training for every type of sport or athletic endeavor there is. Most wrestlers today can go to a gym for a little while before heading to a show and be ready for the night’s matches and promo cuts. I'm not putting these guys down because they’re awesome of what they're capable of and plenty of them are in pretty damn good shape but they don’t share their true training ideals because a lot of the public really only looks at the hardcore stuff they do in the gym and think that they have a lot of time in there to stay fit and read about the routines in the magazines or what they might say on WWE’s Websites but the reality is, they do train their ass off but not as extreme as some might put on paper or an online interview.

            Take away the drugs, pills, injuries or whatever those guys endure and take and you have an athlete that trains by a necessity and has to be efficient in their training to stick to be able to matches that can go as long as an hour and many of them can’t unless you're a Antonio Ceasaro or a Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and guys of that caliber. They really do in my opinion do pretty simple exercises but I'm not doubting they do the isolated crap either yet in the end, they can't afford to spend 3 hours at the gym and muster up enough muscle and all that to go into a match or cut many promos in a single and not feel like collapsing. They train when they need to, to be in top shape and keep their build as long as possible.


            So the next time you want to be inspired by a pro wrestler and want to train and be like them, be a little more realistic, use common sense and think about what could be going on with them if they actually 100% trained like they write about in those magazines because you'd be surprised what they go through if it was remotely true. Although I stopped watching Wrestling on TV, I still have DVDs that have wrestlers talk about the real side of how they trained, got into the business and what they put themselves through on the road for that long period of time. I admire some of these guys but I love realistic, no bullshit and fun old school training for any sport or just being in awesome shape as well. 

Monday, March 24, 2014

The Power Of Your Fingers


             What you may not realize is that your fingers have more strength and power in them than you can imagine. What most people do in training is they grip weight in a tight fist or lay down on a bench and lift with the hand slightly opened or they do most bodyweight exercises with an open hand or tight hand squeeze such as push-ups and pull-ups. When you train the fingers however, you're not just building your body, you're hitting a specific place at the same time.

            Our fingers are mostly in tuned with nerves, tendons and bone and the muscle is within the lower arm and the hands. When our brains construct the nerves to move our hands, it sends signals to billions of areas so we can use the hands to build things, lift, carry, throw and many other things. The strongest finger as far as I know is the thumb because it carries more padding and strength in the hand than any of the other fingers.

            When we build strength in our fingers, it helps carry over to other things we didn't think of before. Some don’t know this but I had spinal meningitis as a baby and because of this, my brain went haywire and had some damage somewhere and now I have trouble in some of the nerves in my body especially in my hands. I’m mostly left handed and have great dexterity in that hand plus have more strength on my left side but on my right side, I have trouble moving my right fingers individually. When I was little I used practically nothing but the left side of my body and my brain damage has caused me to think in ways I can't explain but that’s another story.

            Training your fingers in a totally different format can put a whole new perspective in the way you train. The next time you lift a barbell or dumbbell, try lifting with your fingers, it’s very different and very awkward but there’s a point to it. Instead of doing regular push-ups using your palms, do them on your fingers, it’s harder and requires more stability, balance and strength. I like to do animal type movements on my fingertips such as bear crawls and gorilla walks/jumps. I want to work my tendons more and be creative with it so I can do some of the strength feats I do. When you move or train the fingers more in your lifts or exercise you're building powerful grip strength, finger power and turn your fingers into eagle’s claws.

            When you become crazy strong working the fingers in certain lifts, you can lift most likely more weight using your fingers than the rest who use two hands. One of the strongest men that ever lived was Hermann Gorner who not only did great feats but accomplished some using only his fingers including his still world record of a one-finger deadlift of 727 lbs. Most men can't lift that much with two hands so you see, the fingers have more power in them than we give credit for.

            A favorite exercise of mine is doing fingertip push-ups, if you get good at using 10 fingers, you'll want to reduce more of them to add resistance. My best is using 4 fingers (2 of each hand) doing a few reps. I felt compelled to take it to another level. I've tried doing explosive push-ups where you come down and jump with enough power to have the hands leave the floor. What if I tried doing the same thing but on my fingertips? I did it and it was awesome, hurt a little but I kept at it and here’s a video to prove it.


            One of the upcoming strongmen today has some of the strongest fingers I've ever witnessed on film. His name is Matti Marzel of Ferocious Strength who’s done many feats using the fingers such as handstands, push-ups, pull-ups, v-sits, gymnastic bridge and plenty of others. These things have helped him make certain strength feats like a cakewalk such as tearing decks of cards, bending steel, ripping phonebooks, levering hammers and juggling kettlebells. If there ever was a man in the 21st century who can teach you about finger training it’s this dude here. Build your fingers to create strength that most men can’t imagine and see where it carries to other things in your life. Shatter your personal records and build super strength using the power of your fingers. 

Friday, March 21, 2014

Absorbing Energy Both Positive And Negative

          Like Obiwan says in Star Wars “The force surrounds us, it penetrates us and binds the galaxy together”, the force in reality is surrounding energy. Some look at the force as some blasphemous evil and it’s not even real but yet it very much is. We absorb energy from the moment we were born to the day we die, day in and day out we surround ourselves with some form of energy. The energy that surrounds us has both positive and negative effects. The positive as an example would by energy that has happiness, warmth from within, the negative would be the surrounding energy of gloominess, sadness, fear, anxiety.

            Why do we absorb it? Sometimes it just happens whether we ant it to or not. Think of it this way, you wake up one day feeling happy and gitty, then you turn on the morning news and you watch it for a bit then all of a sudden you start to feel sad and stressed, it’s because you absorbed the negative energy coming from the news and your feelings change. Now I hate the news and prevent myself from watching it because I don’t want to feel those negative effects. Another look at how energy is around us is when you walk into a place and you sense something is up and you can't quite put your finger on it, you’re aware of it but you can't figure out whether it’s good or bad. At times you can sense something great or bad but its all how you absorb it. Sometimes we don't always feel it but also we absorb so much its overwhelming and can have an explosive effect so like anything else, if you do something too much, it’s going to come back and bite you in the ass.

            The energy surrounding our bodies can be our best friend or our worst enemy and from experience I've had both and one or the other has hit me hard, to use the energy to our advantage we ought to use a strategy for both offensive and defensive. The offense is like having an all-star team that just seems like they're unbeatable and can score and power through obstacles like it’s nothing; the defensive is when you have another all-star team that just seems like whatever crosses their path nobody can get passed them, like your own version of Fort Knox with the highest level of security. Picture in your mind what you want for your all-star squads and they can be anyone you want or you can choose to put up barriers it’s up to you. You can use the energy to block out anxiety and stress and you can use energy for how you move and creating powerful spheres that can help you with your strength.


            Use your energy strategy wisely. Sometimes energy whether good or bad can come at us without being aware of it and it can hit us harder and hurt or feel good more than anything physical. Learn to be aware of certain energy and use your imagination to create a powerful team or barrier and use them to your own endeavor. Whether you're an office worker, athlete, fitness enthusiast or whoever you choose to be and going through life in general, you have powerful energy and you can absorb its strength but how you do it is up to you and developing awareness is a key. 

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Super Strength In A Flash

           

            When many people go to the gym or train at home whatever, they believe that having an exterior body would make them happy and that if you have a great body you must be super strong and fit. Not always the case. You may have a fantastic body or striving to make one but strength most of the time comes from within. When you develop both a body internally and externally you are achieving more than what most people will accomplish.

            To develop an internal body you must harness your Chi or in other words Life Force. This can be achieved through meditation, qi gong practices, Tai Chi, or the 21st century of Chi Training called CoreForce Energy; the system that helps triggers the body’s movement and mindful entities to achieve super strength in an instant. Sure if you can lift a heavy weight you're strong, you can bend steel or hold a planche you're strong but how you think into those things with certain “torquing points” and speed at exact timing can turn them into a moment of instant power.

            The way to bring it out is by training your mind where to put certain things, how you think beyond what you see and where your focus points to. You can move in any direction you want and still have great strength to use. From my experience it’s using what are called imaginary spheres around certain points on my body that give me the strength for whatever I want to do whether it’s an exercise or opening a door, even carrying furniture to help someone move. It’s not just a strength and physical element, you can use it on how you talk, how you think differently and the way your body language is used.

            We all have this power from the day we were born to the day we die. Some of us achieve it at a high level only in like emergencies or the fight or flight concept but either way, we have super strength within us and we can harness it if we learned its direction and intent. What would it feel like to become 2-3 times stronger with only a few minutes of learning how to do it, would you want that? Most of us believe that our bodies cannot go more than 5% of what is normal strength at the highest peak but what if we moved that by even 1%; it would be astounding and surreal. No matter how old you are whether 10 or 100, you can bring out levels of strength that just boggles the mind and be able to do it without injury or having to think a whole lot and just in the snap of your fingers.


            It’s fascinating to learn and it’s fairly simple and yes it takes time to learn it just like everything else but even you have mastered even a small percentage of it, your strength and power will skyrocket, learn a bit more and you'll be begging to find out what you can do more but if you learn all of it and consistently the possibilities are limitless. Don't just learn all of it; take bits and chunks of it for whatever you want to do. The strength you have now will become a thing of the past and if you really master it, you can turn it off or on any time you want. 

Monday, March 17, 2014

You Are Not A Robot

             Happy St. Patty’s everyone. What this title should be is you’re not a slave. In the fitness world just like the rest of it, there are people who program others into believing what they do is right and if anything else comes along its bullshit. For the most part, 99.9% of the stuff you see in magazines and infomercials don’t really help you because all they care about is money and not your health.

            I believe if you want to get the best results, you aught to find programs that you find interesting, fun and exciting to do. When you have the freedom to play around and enjoy what you do, it’s no longer “Working Out” it’s more like play and being open to new possibilities. Do your own research meaning not just looking to what others have done or what dumb ass study has been done, I mean experiment it yourself and learn the basics. There’s always going to be some “expert” shmuck who will try to dive into your brain and program it to do his/her bidding so they’re taking away your freedom to find what works best for you.

            Don’t let some gym nut that’s never really done anything to get strong and healthy tell you what you can and can’t do. Be creative and resourceful in what you want to do. Me personally, I love to take different people’s philosophy on training and mold it into something I believe is cool to do not what they believe is cool to do. Be open to different things, learn about exercises you've never done before or take the most basic movement and turn it into a hardcore but powerful one. Do it for yourself and not for some moron behind a desk. Sure there are a lot of sales ads on the net that share the latest course on how to get into great but use your instincts, find ones that have you be free to do it wherever you want, find courses that are exciting and that you can mix and match.


            You are very strong my friend and you don’t have to be a slave to some pencil pusher who’s really a weekend warrior and doesn't do much of anything else. You are free to make your own choices, create your own programs that mean something to you, if someone doesn't like it, so what it’s your thing. Don’t be a robot, be the best you can be and have fun with it. 

Friday, March 14, 2014

Unleash Your Creative Potential

           As long as I've been training since I learned to walk again in 2005, I always believed in finding a creative way to train. It’s been my mission to find certain exercises that are unique and out there because when you do the same old boring crappy workouts that these magazines or infomercials are telling you do, it’s diminishing your right to find what works best for you. I have no problem doing basic movements but I also wanted to add an element of fun to them.

            The best way to use your creativity is to use your imagination. The way you think into your exercises will define how you believe the workout to be. One of my favorite exercises as of late has been what I call being a Thorsmith; what that is just basically taking a heavy Thor Hammer and hitting a tire with one hand. Now to most that just seems pretty boring but not if you think differently. The way I look at it as, I’m not hitting a tire and my hands are bigger in my mind than they normally are, plus I'm imagining I’m in an awesome place where strength is instant, I’m building my body from within and I don't imagine a tire being there but something that I'm building from scratch and it’s not a sword or a wrench but my muscles and my tendons. This is one example of how to turn a simple exercise into a super charged workout with just your thinking.

            Although the word workout may have a different meaning to some people but to me whenever I hear the word work-out two things cross my mind; one being if you don't have a positive thinking process and are too serious you’re just working and not getting anywhere. On the other hand if you feel alive and just effortlessly train without thinking harshly you're really playing and having a blast and getting results out of it. That’s where your imagination comes in and the way you apply yourself to your training.


            There are a number of dumbasses out there that tell you that they're way is the best and whoever is different doesn't know any better and being different makes you weak. Screw them. You are one person, you train however you want and if it’s different than everybody else so be it. I'm encouraging you to be unique and different because you can’t do the same things everyone does. You will always be stronger in something that someone else isn't; it’s not yours or anybody’s fault and being different is a gift not a curse. Don't let anyone tell you that you can’t do something great. If you have a vivid imagination, use it it’s yours and you have the power to make yourself successful. Whoever tells you different and gives you crap about it, they're jealous of what you have and they don’t look at you when they say it, they look at themselves and hating that they can’t do what you’re capable of. Show who you truly are and share it. 

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Thorsmithing? What The Hell Is That


               I know what you're thinking, you're thinking why I came up with a word that makes no sense and is not even in the dictionary, I made it up and it’s meaningless. That last part is wrong and I hate to break it to you there are far more dumbass words that are used more frequently that aren't in the dictionary. There is such a word and I’m going to prove it with my own theory and experience. So sit back and enjoy the ride my friends.

            The reason why I came up with the word Thorsmithing is because it’s in combination of a blacksmith and Thor. It is the power of hitting a Thor Hammer on a tire with one hand while imagining you're a blacksmith creating something. Now Blacksmiths were some of the strongest workers pound for pound, they’re grip were just unbelievable and had some of the strongest arms in that part of town. As a strongman, the hands are crucial to your success on the feats your perform whether it’s bending steel, tearing cards, levering sledgehammers, designing steel into shapes and even driving a nail through a board; all done by hands.

          


  Now imagine having a mighty grip, you pound that hammer into the tire and you’re imagining not creating some kind of metal in your imagination but imagining you're creating the type of body you want; strong arms, powerful shoulders, punch-proof abs, sturdy legs and keen eye coordination. It’s not as easy as it looks because after a while, one hand will get tired so you have to switch to the other and keep going until you feel you're done. Just like building a sword like a blacksmith as a Thorsmith, you're building your body one strike at a time and when you're done with a workout, you're one step closer to creating something from scratch and turning it into a staggering piece of beauty and strength.

            You will develop a crushing grip and be able to do things you normally wouldn't be able to. A blacksmith’s hammer weighs close to what no more than 3 pounds, now imagine striking with a hammer 4-5 times that size; your grip will be powerful and crazy strong. Possessing that kind of grip takes hard work but it also develops your character and harnesses your mind to create something from within to show on the outside.

            As you hit the tire, imagine you're in Asgard among the Norse Gods with a hammer that can shatter mountains, knock out frost giants in the blink of an eye and be lifted almost no man can. Bring yourself to the place where strength is infinite, the glowing passion of power within your grasp and be able to strengthen your body unlike anything you've ever done before, all within one strike at a time. Get a hold of your own Thor Hammer and become a Thorsmith, creating strength and super power in your very own hands. Oh My God; it’s so ludicrous it just might be possible.


Monday, March 10, 2014

Moving With Freedom



           In most exercise programs, you usually see someone in one spot doing a plethora of moves and routines whether it’s running on a treadmill, riding the elliptical, moving weight up and down or whatever it happens in one particular spot. As much as I admire that type of thing for certain programs I feel one should move around in more than one spot. Why stay in one place when you have more room than what you have?

            I get it, not many people want to move around in more than one spot and if you're in prison, being in different places is more of privilege and you have no choice but to be in one spot or the other but on the other hand; if you have a place to move around and the weather is decent you have the freedom to move wherever you want. It’s like playing as if you were a little kid again. Kids run around all over the place, their energy is boundless and can do all sorts of things. As adults we “grow out” of this phase of our lives and become more analytical and focus on not getting hurt rather than just have fun. Stop that and when you exercise, have some fun with it.

            Playing and moving your body is essential to fitness success. Sure if you’re passionate about it and are serious about what you want to do that’s ok too but at the same time it’s important to not take most things so serious. It’s about taking it one step at a time. If you're new to training yes it’s important to start out slowly but also don’t be so serious it becomes stressful, smile and be open to things. I have a mother who is serious about line-dancing and rarely ever really exercises but she makes the line-dancing fun with moves and music that are just crazy to dance to but brings joy to them.

            A personal favorite type of training is moving like a wild animal or mimicking an animal. The reason why is because it gives me freedom to move however I want and it teaches you how to be aware of how you move and which direction you want the body to go to. You can’t stay in one spot with this type of training unless you imagined you’re an animal in a cage. Unleash your Animality, hone the animal that is within you and have fun with it. My Animality is the Ape because for some reason in my mind moving like an Ape is just fun, exciting and deeper as a being than any other animal. I’ll bet you big time that if you practice moving like an animal in the jungle, there will be one that you’ll find the most exciting, the one that just has your mind on more than anything else, that’s the animal you want to bring out and have fun with.

            Be free and put in the effort to move different ways in not feel like you’re in a cage, move around damn it.

Friday, March 7, 2014

A World Without WAR



You’re probably wondering why I put war in capital letters. What does it have to do with Physical Culture? Believe it or not I'm not talking about military combat or exercises that help you become a soldier but it’s an actual name of a legendary wrestler that recently passed away; William A. Robinson aka Catch Wrestler Billy Robinson. Born in 1939 in England, he came from a family of boxers but as fate would have it, he became a wrestler.

            A man named Billy Riley opened a wrestling school in England in a town called Wigan, he trained some of the toughest wrestlers not just in Europe but just about everywhere else. The two most famous to come out of that gym were Karl Istaz aka Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson. In the 1950’s when Billy was just starting out, he got tied up in knots, worked his ass off, learned the secrets of Catch Wrestling and ventured off into the world of Pro Wrestling. He won countless titles all over the world but never forgot where he came from. Wigan Wrestling back then would be the equivalent to Dan Gable’s Championship formula of the 1980’s at the University Of Iowa, rough, tough and the most conditioned wrestlers of it’s time.

            In the 1970’s, Billy was considered one of the top if not the top most talented wrestler of that era. He wrestled many top stars of the day. His style of wrestling was unique in that it was scientific, he read other wrestlers like it was a chess match. He had agility very few had and can lock you in a hold where he could cripple you if he had the chance, he was that good. He trained countless wrestlers over the years, some you may even heard of that are hall of famers in pro wrestling such as 16-time World Champ Ric Flair and quite possibly the most hated wrestler of his era The Iron Sheik. In Japan he coached many of the Japanese wrestlers of the time including “Gracie Killer” Kazushi Sakuraba.

            Billy passed away earlier this week leaving a legacy that has long been forgotten but has slowly risen with a new generation of Catch Wrestlers and to continue his legacy before he died he put together a book called Physical Chess which told his life story from his very own words. He was the last of the old-time catch wrestlers of the old Wigan days. To even get a glimpse of his legendary wisdom and training now is to go to Scientific Wrestling and get the DVD series W.A.R which shows his philosophy, training and techniques in the art of Catch As Catch Can Wrestling. I never got the chance to meet him but I've talked to those that have and they said he was the best and was a great man. Maybe one day if I learned some catch I'll be hearing the voice from above “Do it again.”


            One of his many facets on life and wrestling is what he referred to as “Learning how to learn.” I've heard this phrase a few times and what I believe it to be is that you don’t stop learning, if you think you know it all, you haven’t learned a damn thing. He uses it for wrestling for what I use it as fitness, you can do so many things but there’s always something that can be taught that keeps you finding other ways to better yourself no matter how long it takes and mastering it is part of the mystery. Even if you master something you’ll always be a student because knowledge is what keeps us going and how it absorbs who you are and what you want to do. RIP Billy and hope wherever you are, you're having fun wrestling old comrades and crippling those who need to get their ass kicked. 

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

The Dying Art Lives Again At Coney Island


           Strongmen have been apart of American Culture since the early 20th century and have performed countless feats in various cities across the country. One of these areas however holds a special place in the heart in some of the modern strongmen today and that’s the infamous Coney Island Strongman show in Coney Island, NY where legends like Warren Lincoln Travis, Joe Greenstein aka The Mighty Atom and others performed some of the most awesome feats in history. For many decades after the vaudeville shows were diminishing and slowly dying out, there have been a small group of people to help bring back the one show that got people’s attention way back as far as the 1920’s or earlier.
                       
            Imagine being able to perform or even witness a strongman show that just has so much history it hurts to think about at times. Your best feats performed at the very same spot where a little man stood out more than men twice his size and opened up his heart by performing feats that gave people hope and love for an awesome show. Ever thought of performing at your best with the best by your side?

            Think of what you can create to put on a show that makes people’s jaw drop, cheer loud and see your passion at hand right in front of their very own eyes. Perform at a level unlike anything you’ve done before and learn the very secrets of how to hone your creativity to perform better than at any other time. You have a passion to do wicked awesome feats like Bar Bending, Tearing Decks Of Cards, Rolling Frying Pans, Tear Phone Books like a piece of paper and other feats that will be shared.

            The man that will teach you these very same skills, techniques, crowd control and other facets of the Strongman game is Chris Rider; a world-renowned strongman has performed some of the craziest feats and not just bending steel and tearing phone books but doing feats with his hair and has coached some of the strongest performers today. He is hosting a seminar that will teach you various feats that you can perform in a show and will give you insights on what materials to use, technique, develop showmanship, how to train for your feats and much more in one 8-hour workshop. Here at the Coney Island Strongman Spectacular Seminar you will find out more details on where this awesome seminar will be and perform at a whole other level.


            Will you rise up and become a better performer? Chris and his friend Adam Realman will show you key ingredients to take your strength and your mind to the next level in a way that only Rider & Realman can do. It is your opportunity and your chance to shine and amp your potential even higher. They’re looking for up-incoming strongmen to go even further not just in strength but as a performer and show the real deal in a show. Better hurry up because this will go out fast so jump on the bandwagon and hone your skills to greater heights.

Monday, March 3, 2014

The Fun Of Doing Feats Of Strength

          Back in the vaudeville days of the early 20th century and even today in some areas, there were men and women performing various feats of strength that would get the crowd roaring and make their jaws drop in amazement. In the fitness world today, almost nobody does even a few feats because it’s not up to their standards and don’t want to go to that other level but I believe you’re a little different. You can learn various feats because the human body is capable of doing things we still haven't discovered yet.

            When you train in certain feats whether it’s nail bending, card tearing, ripping phone books in half, scrolling steel or even pick up an awkward heavy object; make it interesting, find what makes them fun to do and perform in a way that’s geared towards who you are and what you represent. I've seen guys who try to copy another’s performance or try to be something they're not but I've also seen guys who have a unique way of performing or even just training to where yes it’s a little odd but it’s cool at the same time. Being unique is never a bad thing, you are one person and you have the right to become anything you want to be if you set your mind to it.

            Even if you don't aspire to be a performing strongman you can still make the most out of your strength feats by just playing around and build your body a little differently. Some people take aerobics classes, run on the treadmill, lift weights, do complicated programs (Insanity anyone?) but then there are those who do things a little out of the ordinary, they use their bodies in ways most would run away from. Imagine steel that’s not meant to bend just melt in your very own hands or tearing up decks of cards like a piece of paper or lever heavy sledgehammers to your face without smashing into it. It is beautiful when you get it down to a “T”. One of my favorite feats which I have performed in front of more than 600 kids and adults is where I bend a 6 inch spike into a U while holding the wrestler’s bridge with my nose touching the floor. Most people can't even hold a bridge like that let alone bend a spike that big so it’s an awesome feeling to be able to do that. Work on different feats and find ones that you find exciting to you and want to perform the most of, this helps you find your niche and find your creative side.


            Taking certain feats to a new level is the fascinating thing in the world of Physical Culture. On video I've seen a guy rip a deck of cards while being hung by his neck, another in person where he had a plate on his stomach and someone from 8-10ft up drops a bowling ball on top of it, why not rip a phonebook while hanging upside down; there are many unique ways to do a feat but I advise you to not go so crazy like a WWE show but you can do things that nobody else can do and that’s where taking it to another level is just that much sweeter. You have more power in you than you would believe and you have gifts that people would envy but never think you’re not good enough. You want to be different and you are different so do what makes you happy. Don’t be someone else, they’re already taken, be who you are and have fun with it. 

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