Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Mastering Hand Balancing For Pure Upper Body Strength And Power

Mastering your Body-Weight isn't easy by any stretch whether you're small, big, overweight, thin or whatever and many people believe or lead to believe that Calisthenics is nothing but a warm-up and doesn't require a lot of strength. I feel sorry for those who actually believe that and whoever told them that is a piece of crap period. Sure there are certain exercises are very simple to learn but overall the hardest thing is not always the consistency but finding the right challenging exercises that take you to another level.

I have done Hand Balancing in the past doing enough to wear I held a free-standing Handstand for a short but amazing amount of time especially at my size. The ultimate form of upper body masteryb is without question the Handstand. For decades, athletes from all over the world have done some form of Hand Balancing in their lifetime; from wrestlers to acrobats, gymnasts, bodybuilders, Trapeze Artists, Weight Lifters and many others. Did you know the most successful bodybuilder of the 30's and 40's was in fact a master Hand Balancer? His name was John Grimek; he held Weight Lifting Titles, Mr. Universe Titles, a 2-Time Mr. America Winner, Olympic Champion & one of the best Muscle Posers of his era credited many of his accomplishments to Hand Balancing. One of the greatest wrestlers of his generation Karl Gotch believed that when you became good at Handstands, you had mastered your body-weight pretty good.

It is one of the most difficult aspects of training because for one just getting over the fear of being upside down makes many people cringe and further more it's more than just holding with your arms; your core, your legs, shoulders, wrists, chest and hips all have to be in sync with each other otherwise you will fall on your ass or worse. It's also a very distinctive form of Isometrics where once you can hold a Handstand whether using a wall or not you are developing an insane level of strength and focus that can carry over to other areas of your training. Some of the strongest pressers in the world have used Handstand Push-ups as one of their main exercises since lifting your own body-weight isn't easy enough.

If you're willing to learn you don't need to go to a Gymnastic School to get lessons although having a coach can most certainly help your progress, you can learn Hand Balancing in the comfort of your own home. For building the strength to do Handstand Push-ups against the wall my best pick would be Legendary Strength's Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups; this book will take you from basic holds to little tid bits of being able to do the push-ups and learning some major differences just from the way you tilt your head. Really cool stuff. For being able to do them free-handed without any wall I put my money on Eddie Baran's Gymnastic Handstands Course; this book/DVD Combo will teach you the fundamentals of Free-Standing Handstands from holds to push-up to even able to walk on your hands in a straight handstand. Be able to do amazing things and do a skill not many can do.

Now if you want to take it a step further and gain skills only less than a handful of an entire population can do why not learn the steps from Calisthenic Kingz Official Guide To Mastering Handstands & Handstand Push-Ups and built up to being able to do one of the most difficult push-ups in existence The Diamond Handstand Push-up. Order all three courses if you want or pick any of the three, whatever works for you. Doing Hand Balancing is a lot of fun and once you really get into it, it becomes more like play. Ed Baran didn't get into Gymnastics until the age of 35, imagine that for a second; most men that age are retired and had their time, Ed was just starting and now over the age of 50 he's still at it and has one of the most impressive physiques around. It's never too late to learn so what's truly stopping you from doing something awesome? Here's something really cool, just last year before turning 31 I did a video of doing a Free-Standing Handstand Push-up when I was roughly at a Body-Weight of over 250 lb. You think a 180 lb. man has a tough time, add 70 lb. to that and it is one of the rarest things around. See the video below....


Many years prior to that I made a video when I was roughly mid-20's doing Handstand Push-ups at around 235 lbs. starting in a HEADSTAND. I swear to this day I don't know how I did it or what but I got it on film and it was really awesome I was able to do that. One of these days I aught go after this feat again. Who knows, check it out below....



Many things are possible when you are so damn passionate and put in the work that drives you and gives you something to strive for. I made it possible by training hard, smart and working towards that goal and I did it in less than a few years, took me more years just to be able to do one FSHSP and the courses I learned from didn't come until years later. I know if you work at it and practice you can definitely get there faster than I ever did. Make it happen.  

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Developing Real Functional Strength & Conditioning Using Animal Movements And Bridging Exercise

Lately I have been combining two of my personal favorite methods of exercise & that's animal movement and the variations of Bridging. Since integrating these methods together in separate workouts throughout the day and evening I'm feeling leaner and more muscular in areas that I have forgotten to build on.

The Animals are my strength & cardio go to method because of the way you move in awkward positions and filling up the lungs with oxygen while putting the muscles and tendons to work as you move in the positions themselves from the shoulders all the way down to the feet. The Bridging Exercises are my go to for Flexibility, Agility & Conditioning of the entire muscular structure. Holding a bridge in the three positions (Back, Front & Gymnastic) for 1-3 minutes each is a hell of a stretch and really unlocks the muscles in the spinal areas. More than just holding, I also rock back and forth in both front and back bridges, wall walking into a bridge and touching my chest to the wall; these exercises alone really hit the spot and open up the body in a very unique way that only up until almost 20 years ago that Fighters/Wrestlers and Yogis knew about in modern western culture.

You can create combinations of different methods however you want but I feel that when you integrate Bridging with Animal Exercise, you are developing not only strength & flexibility but creating a well rounded physique that gets you lean and mean when practiced regularly. Now that doesn't mean you jump into holding advanced bridges and animals off the bat. It takes time and patience plus some exercises may not suit everybody so adjust according to your body and fitness levels. After nearly 12 years of doing these, I still have things to learn and master so don't feel bad if you don't get things going right away. Go at your own pace and be able to do things that are comfortable at first and when they become easy, move up to the next level. For some, it may take a few weeks, others months or even years to really hit advanced stages in both methods.

The best thing to do is have fun and pay attention to how your body feels; this isn't a contest to see how far you push yourself. Like with every form of exercise it's important to be careful, not so damn cautious that fear is really striking you in the face but to do the best to your current abilities. Here are the best courses for these two methods.....

http://bitly.com/Advanced-Bridging

http://tinyurl.com/qbl6d54


Monday, November 28, 2016

How Was Your Thanksgiving???

Welcome back to Monday and on Cyber Monday at that. Hopefully you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the people you love and shared in how thankful you are. I'm also sorry for those who had to fight the next day on Black Friday getting the best deals possible for your Xmas Shopping.

Had a great time spending Thanksgiving with my girl and her family at her Dad's place; watching a little football and eating it up with awesome food. Going crazy helping people find the best spots to save money for the holidays and bringing you guys the best resources in fitness and health. I never want people going out and fighting in the social snake pit of death just so you can find the best toy for your little one, a TV the whole family can have or deals on the best movies for anyone. It's not right to trample among each other and go insane.

I want you guys to have the safest shopping experience possible because its my job to help you find amazing deals and save a ton of cash around the net without needing to go anywhere you don't feel the need to. That's the beauty of technology these days where it's great for a past weekend like this that you don't ever have to fight for what you want when you can snatch up deals in the comfort of your own living room and leave the crazed lunatics to their own demise. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and here are some places you can go to for Cyber Monday Deals. Better hurry and grab what you need.

Amazon

Legendary Strength Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale

ONNIT

-Cyber Monday (Free Fitness Program Deal) At Advocare

With the above I will send you a free fitness program that's a 30-Day Program with any order you make at my personal store. Get fit and get amazing results with powerful supplements and going at your own pace with a 30 day workout program filled with basic bodyweight exercises that target every area of the body and you can do them on any of the 3 levels you're area of fitness is at.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Battling My Own Demons

This will be a different article than you're use to reading especially when it comes to a different side of me I rarely talk about. So as a warning there will be things you may not like and things you don't want to hear or read but I feel the need to open up a bit.....

A lot of issues that I've had for years have been in my own head and have doubts about myself from time to time that I can't always let go. It's an uphill battle of emotional fitness so do speak and some days I just want to be left alone and need to be in my own element. I struggle with trusting people in my life and there's an extreme few I do trust and two of them are my biggest female influences (yes you're one of them holly my love, you give me hope and love when I need it the most).

I don't easily get depressed because a good portion of the time I end up laughing at the most random things and some people I know just can't deal with it because it's weird and think i'm some kind of freak or something. I do however have a side to me that when I'am down, some people sense it right away and want to help but sometimes you just need to let me be, I'll get out of it eventually and I'm grateful those who do their best to help but I need to be left alone in order to be my best again.

My struggles with trusting people has been a battle with me ever since I was little. People I love and cared about have stabbed me in the back and I never truly got over it and feel alienated by them because I felt used for their benefit. I have been forced into little things that shouldn't be a big deal and a lot of them really weren't but I make them big for some reason. It's not fun being rejected and it definitely isn't fun when its your own flesh and blood, the people you look up to when you were younger. I have been used for my strength, my level of sympathy for others and being used just to be manipulated to help someone else. I'm very much a happy person and I do love what I have and what I have earned money wise, respect from others and what I have received from others that makes me thankful for what I'am. I have a horrible ability to cry and at times when I have it's usually something major and it doesn't last too long. I don't ask for sympathy, I don't ask to be felt sorry for and I certainly don't ask to be praised for; all I do ask is to be heard and form your own outlook and quite frankly because of my nature I do care about what some say good or bad because it's who i'am.

I have tried to please others for so long and be helpful to them in whatever the best I can. I still do on occasion and on those occasions I still get used and fall for it. The only people I truly please these days are the ones that truly matter to me and I don't ask anything in return because they are worth it to me and I do it because I feel it's important for them from the little things to major things that really hit it for them. For those that I do my best to please have become the same people that stabbed me in the back and wanted more than they should've gotten out of me.

I've always been a loving and caring guy; anybody who knows me knows this wholeheartedly and I would go to the ends of the earth for those I feel the closest to. I don't truly hate anyone but there are those that I love so unconditionally it shows and there are those that I do love but can never love to death because of what they have done to me emotionally. I have been beaten up, torn down emotionally and have been physically exhausted from trying to be there that don't give it back a fraction of what I've given and its made me want to punch someone in the face so many times but I don't because to me it'll make me more like them than who I truly am.

Life is never easy no matter who you are or how rich you are or how poor you are and what your status is to society but in the end it's up to you to make it interesting and what YOU can control. We all have demons, some far greater than mine can ever be but push comes to shove I'll be open about myself. I have many influences in my life and that includes the three women in my life that have the biggest on me and that's my mom, my girl and my second mom Juanita. Others include Bud Jeffries, Logan Christopher, Tyler Bramlett, Kevin & Michael Nicholson (my brothers from another mother). These people have shaped my life in ways no one else could even if they don't realize it. I may have my own personal demons but they're the ones that make the light shine brighter than anything else. Whether you think more of me or less it doesn't matter, what matters is that I hope you have a chance to read this and that you know how open I can be. Fitness is not always about being in physical shape or what's better than what, it's about learning how to be fit in areas many never see and what shapes them both inside and outside.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Things Just Keep Coming Together With Primate Training

The power of influence and inspiration can come from anywhere even in a single moment where it only lasts for a mere 10 seconds can change your entire life from then on. That's what gives me the drive to do Primate or Ape/Monkey exercises, its having those little moments that really shine on my brain like for example seeing the updated trailer for Kong: Skull Island inspires me even greater to have that kind of strength, that kind of enormous ability to move and feel like larger than life. Apes truly are the most awesome strength giants of the Animal Kingdom.

It's not easy to walk on your knuckles, let alone be able to speed up and jump while adding in the ability to just hang from a bar for quite a period of time. Even 10 seconds from a dead hang is challenging especially if you're a big guy like myself. I take pride in learning how to move my body in all sorts of directions and mainly being able to move like a primate in the safest ways possible because lets face it, unless you're tarzan or have some secret DNA that allows you to have the tendons and muscular adaptations of a wild beast its impossible to move the same exact way a primate does. We may not be able to swing on vines gracefully but we can improvise using our structure to move through the Monkey Bars or do acrobatic feats on the swing, hang from a pull-up bar and develop powerful grip strength, Squat down and hold it like a Chimp. There are many ways to develop our own style of Primate Fitness.

Since getting back into this, I'm feeling a greater since of flexibility in my spine, my fingers are building strength in the tendons, my knees are getting stretched in the deep squat positions, my oblique are getting stronger from the hanging position, my wrists feel like solid rock, my abs are getting leaner little by little and my upper body conditioning is increasing. You don't need to be a gymnast or an acrobat to get into this, it takes practice but with the right progression for you it can make a huge difference. The power of the primate is inside all of us, whether the theory is we are descended from apes or not doesn't matter but I do believe because of the shape of them compared to us is nearly identical from the chimp and gorillas we must embrace having that possible connection.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

You Deserve To Get The Most Out Of Your Hard Earned Money



I'm so F*cking psyched to share this really awesome and wonderful Idea I have for YOU this holiday season and beyond....

It's important to find the best products possible and for that I want to give something back as my gratitude and appreciation for what you decided to do.

What will happen is when you go to my Advocare Store and you make a purchase, you'll be getting more than just a product, I will personally send you a FREE WORKOUT that is circuit based and all you need is your own bodyweight. You can do this workout in the comfort of your own home and on your own schedule anytime, anywhere. If it's too difficult, let me know by email, call or text and I will send you another workout for you to start on.

I want YOU to get the most bang for your hard earned money and help you reach your goals as best as possible. You deserve to be in awesome health and whether you're a man or woman, young or old doesn't matter you will get something out of it.

Are you in sports? Building a Healthy Lifestyle? Starting a new regimen? Or just want to look awesome in your birthday suit, I will help you find the best products and workouts for your goals.

Let's work together and help you get the most out of it.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Quick And Simple Workouts Two To Three Times A Week

Many people are pressed for time when they do their best to exercise. They think in order to get in shape they need to do hour long workouts that consist of mainly cardio, stretching and lifting weights. It sucks but you're probably a good many folks who work long hours, need to take care of your kids and maybe just want to crash at the end of the day. I don't blame you, I've seen many parents and guardians just wiped when they pick their kids up from either day care or school and it takes on a toll on them.

Its never easy to start any kind of fitness regimen and even if you're fully committed, you never know what kind of day you'll get and there will be days where your routine is just off for any particular reason. A lot of fitness experts expect you to hold down the fort and do workouts they tell you will get you "in shape" that consists of being on a treadmill, do some weird stretching before you play around with the weights and the machines. There's nothing wrong with following a specific program yet there aught to be something that strikes you to keep coming back for more. Let's face it, traditional cardio at those chrome and fern gyms that suck the life out of you and fill your brain with nonsensical training methods that can most likely do one of two things; won't give you the results you are doing your damnedest to achieve or 2, end up injuring you because you were taught bad form or you went into overload and your body shuts down.

What if you can do a style of training that burns off fat, takes less than 10 minutes and be able to burn calories even hours after your workout? You can do them 2x-3x a week and get what you need done. Granted the exercises and routines aren't easy by any stretch but give you a powerful sense of accomplishment and make the most out of the time you have.

I'm talking about Workout Finishers where you take a 1-4 or 5 exercises and just blast them in a high intensity level of training. They can be done in supersets, circuits, ladders, done in as many rounds as possible all in a short amount of time. Just yesterday I did a finisher after a DDP Yoga session learning the basics and did a Superset of 5 Kettlebell Presses per arm and going straight into 5 Mountain Climbers per leg; doing this workout for only 5 minutes and doing as many rounds as possible without resting. This alone kicked my ass big time and I loved it. That's just one example, another would be doing 3 exercises for 8 minutes at a 20/10 Tabata Style workout that will have you burning fat like a furnace. You can do them immediately after your current workouts or do them on your days off to help shed off extra fat and burn calories like butter to a hot plate.

I'm not in the habit of bullshitting anyone (excuse the language but I'm being honest here) so when I tell you what can be a real bad ass in your training, better believe what i'm saying. I realize you may be skeptical and that's ok, I was too and I didn't think it work, then I decided to just do it and see what happens and holy crap I felt it immediately and my heart was thumping and my lungs were firing. I want to share with you a real balls to the wall course that is only Finishers that really put you in a state of being in a fat burning zone that occurs during and after doing a finisher that will shed fat, build muscle and have you able to eat your favorite foods. If you truly commit and build on healthy eating while developing finishers for your workouts or on days off, your eyes will pop out of your head from the shock of the type of physique you can create. I've lost fat and put on great muscle while staying at a bodyweight of over 265 and its helped me stay agile and conditioned for other favorite methods of exercise.

So come on, do it for you and check it out by going HERE and see what can be in stored for you.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Crazy Primal Strength

I've been on a terror the last couple days getting back into my favorite form of training: Animal Exercise. Doing things such as hanging, crawling, walking & jumping like a wild animal particularly Apes & Monkeys (my personal favorite type of animals). Ever since I saw the new trailer for Kong: Skull Island & watching the first two of the Planet Of The Apes Reboot series, my instincts have put me on a path to just go Ape in my training.

I build my grip strength by hanging from my pull-up bar in various positions to develop a grip that is functional and powerful; plus having the ability to elongate the spine, strengthen and put some flexibility into my shoulders adds tremendous benefit for my own development. On the ground I do different stuff from monkey walks to moving putting most of my weight on knuckles and what is bi-peddle swaggering where you walk like a chimp. For me this is the ultimate form of basic primal movement and strengthening the body from awkward angles and building on pulling power.

Many people in the fitness world like animal movements these days and why not? They're good for you, help develop new levels of conditioning and strengthen the muscles unlike our typical humanized bodyweight exercises but not all methods are created equal. Some are very good like what i'm doing, Animal Flow, MovNat and others but some are also a little out there and are too commercialized like an aerobics class having too much of a human style to it instead of feeling like a wild beast just moving and strengthening the body. I'm not saying this is a bad thing but it takes away the authenticity of moving and mimicking wild animals. Its always good to find something for everyone but whether you're a beginner or an advanced animal, its always important to move as best as possible without relying too much on the human side of it. There are some animals people shouldn't or can't do and that's OK yet the most basic animals can be taught with great progression according to one's fitness level.

I taught animal moves to people young and old when I was in college and I gave each person a certain form of progression that suited to their level and whether they can barely walk or start running down the court I let their instincts be a part of their development. You can learn the movement all you want but if it doesn't feel instinctive and it doesn't click you won't get very far. I have mastered many animals but my favorites are of the primates and do them according to my strength levels and my ability to stay in specific positions. I'm a big man so hanging from  a pull-up bar doesn't last too long but its still effective, with the ground work I just go until I need to rest or stop.

Build great real primal strength and execute moves that suit you and work for your abilities currently.

Animal Kingdom Conditioning Courses (Survival Of The Fittest & Call Of The Wild)

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Hundreds Of Push Ups & Squats In A Day

Over the last few days I have been experimenting with doing Push-ups & Squats throughout the day more often in Supersets. I'm doing a maximum of 25 reps per exercise which means I'll do one variation for 25 in a row or do a couple variations until I get to 25, the Squats are 25 straight through no matter what. Multiple Variations of the Push-up is being done through what I feel like doing and keeping that up throughout the day. I don't experience almost any soreness and i'm not overtaxing my nervous system or overtraining the muscles. I recover very well and it's starting to show especially in my chest, upper back and arms. So far I'm hitting up to a total of 300 Push-ups & Squats.

I'm mastering a particular squat done by dancers and it helps take pain off of my knees. Recently doing Hindu Squats, although very good for your health and building a solid foundation on conditioning, it puts a bit of stress on MY knees and needed to change things up. As a big guy, its important to be aware of the type of exercise you do and learn what works in term of overall strength not just in the muscles but the joints so you may have to do different variations to find the one that gives YOU the best benefit. The squat in particular i'm learning and is working rather amazing so far is taught in Kevin Wikes Pan Program which is based on the deity of the half-man half-goat that represents masculinity and virility. I like how simple this exercise is but it also gives a powerful stretch in the hamstrings and groin and promotes heavy testosterone when done in high reps.

 Now why am I doing this? What's my end game here? Well its not to prove how many I can do of each that's for damn sure; its basically teaching me what I can do to be creative while keeping things simple and keep my body moving throughout the day because I do work from home and whenever I do go out its not that often especially now when my house has had big issues these past near 2 weeks. I always did workouts where I just did them all at once and that was it or do another workout later on that evening. I would work the rest of the time writing to you, researching, messing around a bit or going out somewhere so this is to help me stay fresh and strong while building muscle. My big workout really is at night when I work on my neck and my bridging exercises to stretch and strengthen the entire body doing my neck from multiple angles and doing the Front & Back Bridge for 3 min. each. This way I'm not overexerting myself and I get to do what I love while sticking with basic exercises. When it's warmer out, I go swimming or do animal movements or qi gong exercise.

Do you need to do these exercises everyday? No you can split them up into various days in the week or do one day of push-ups, one day of squats and the next bridging or do them all at once it depends on your goals. This works for ME and I'm liking the benefits from it. I don't go crazy and I don't push myself to the limit and keep an eye on how my body feels.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Going With The Fundamentals

No matter how you start or how advanced you are, you can't go wrong using the basic principles/exercises in your training. One of the things I learned early on in my adult life since I was 21 years old is that fundamentals are the key to being successful in any endeavor whether its sports, exercise, business, food & many other things. Sometimes we fall by the wayside and think because something is basic and simple that it feels demeaning and we aught to be more advanced and progressed into greater stages. When it comes to exercise people in many cases believe that the basics don't have any real meaning except as a starting point and then don't need them once they progress to a higher level of progression. Yes its important to keep progressing and getting better but at the same time going back to the basics can aid in your success and not feel like you're Demoting yourself.

The things I learned from specific people in the Physical Culture world is that in order to truly become your own expert is to learn the basics and make them a second language. For example in bodyweight exercise men like Karl Gotch, Matt Furey & others taught the fundamentals of Push-ups, Squats & Bridging as the main staple of any regimen beginner or advanced. In the weightlifting world you stick to basic lifts such as Bench Press, Deadlift, Squat, Snatches, Military Press and basic dumbbell work of those specific exercises which when mastered with good weight will put on muscle, increase strength, utilize multiple groups of muscles and hitting them hard.

I always feel the need to change things up but more and more especially since its not the best weather to workout in, I'm going into more of basic forms of exercises that I can do throughout the day like the last couple days I've been doing Push-ups & Squats throughout the day in Supersets of up to 25 reps in a row. One of those days was doing a total of 300 each which is pretty good considering I haven't done that many in quite some time except the squats. At night I would do my bridging and neck resistance exercise to aid in putting on some extra muscle in my neck and strengthen/lengthen my spine using the Front & Back Bridges holding them for 3 min. each. The squats are Hindu Squats and I keep them even with the push-ups even though the golden rule is to double the squats; this works for me and let's me recover for later sets and as I progress to about 500 each in a day in sets of 25, I will eventually add it to 50 per set per exercise and who knows one day I'll go for 1000 each exercise but until then this works for my structure and my ability to recover. With the Bridging I'll add in the Gymnastic Bridge to get a greater stretch and I do 5 exercises for the neck working it from several angles to build strength and rugged power to keep it from getting hurt and/or pinching it.

The most basic upper body movement in all of bodyweight training is the Push-up and it is the king of upper body movement period. Some call it the king of them all but I a disagree in certain areas of but its highly effective and puts on muscle when you do them correctly. Some put on muscle greater using lower reps, others do so with higher reps. It's been used by countless cultures around the world and was a staple for a lot of Hollywood actors today and more than 50-60 years ago. Men like Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster and even guys who played Tarzan such as Jock Mahoney, Mike Henry & the most recent Tarzan actor Alexander Skarsgard used Push-ups to build their physiques for roles in specific films. Seriously if that doesn't inspire you to do Push-ups something is amiss there. The funny thing is basic push-ups are not really enough for some people and try to do variations they're clearly not ready for like one-arm push-ups and plyo push-ups. Don't get me wrong many variations do wonders but there are ones that can hurt you and damage joints if your body isn't in the right setting yet. For me as a big guy at around 270 I stick with 2 arm style push-ups as best as possible and yes I can do one arm and plyo but doing them in high reps is major risk for joint damage and muscle tearing so I stay as basic as possible and have gained results because of this.

Now in terms of how many push-ups one can do, that's up to the individual in what they're goals and intentions are. You are not really competing against anyone to see how better you are or that you can do more than another person; its about training to your fullest potential without risking injury and able to do things on a consistent level. Just because you start off with a low number of something doesn't mean you're a terrible trainee, everyone starts somewhere. I couldn't imagine doing 300 Push-ups or more in a single day when I was a kid because back then to me that was impossible and I could never be strong enough to do that. Not many men my size are doing hundreds of push-ups in a single day since most of them are either out of shape, lifting weights or are strongmen so I'm happy that i'm able to do these and be able to build a physique because of them. Sure I do other things but I'm confident that I'm decently fit for a guy my size. In one workout I did a total of 600 Push-ups in roughly 90 minutes doing Pyramid sets of multiple variations and resting as long as needed. For an advanced person an hour and a half of 600 push-ups sounds pretty weak but I'm not going for records of doing a certain number in a row.

Here's a good solid book of over 60 variations of push-ups you can play with and progress on. Never be bored with dull workouts and be able to train throughout the day or in a single workout your choice. See how many push-ups you can do in a single day and build up to a number you'd like to reach. Make them count. Ultimate Guide To Push-ups

Monday, November 7, 2016

Make Your Spine Your Best Friend

A lot of people look to specific areas of the body that they find the most appealing or the most useful when it comes to sports or just everyday life. Some people look arms as a mighty thing because from the fingers to the shoulders they have the ability to build things, lift heavy weights, bend metal, carry another human to safety, knock out another person or hit a baseball far into the stands. Others like to look at legs as amazing and they are; they give you the ability to run very fast, have the power to kill a person with a single kick to the head, run hard for a touchdown, the agility to steal second base and be able to go for long periods of time in a boxing or wrestling ring. These are all good qualities and various body parts are appealing and all but nothing takes the place of the spinal cord.

The back is the second largest set of muscles next to the legs and for good reason. The spinal cord however are the bones that connect everything together and if one little bad thing goes wrong and one or more set of bones no longer function and broken, you wouldn't have great legs or powerful arms anymore. You would be paralyzed and it could end your life as a healthy individual as you know it.

Its very difficult to come back from spinal injuries and the majority of those that are crippled from a spinal injury don't ever come back and it becomes a painful and stressful life that nobody could ever live with. Look at guys like Christopher Reeve, Darren Drozdov (Puke from the WWE's Attitude Era), Roy Campenella, Issac Redman (Former Pitts Steeler) and others that live or lived with Spinal Injuries that has living in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives. We can't always control what's going to happen in the blink of an eye but we can damn sure control how we train our bodies that has potential to severely reduce injury. Here's one example of this; Brock Lesnar in his match against Kurt Angle for WWE Title at Wrestlemania 19 at the very end, does a backflip off the top rope and accidentally lands on his forehead; BTW this guy is 6'3 285 lbs. of pure solid muscle and was lucky his life didn't end right there because the average wouldn't just be paralyzed, he'd be in the damn morgue. What saved his life and a possible life threatening injury was the strength his neck and spine. All those hours from doing Neck Bridges and moving in every possible direction to build solid power in his neck made that much of a difference and that move was only if at all 2-3 seconds long. Think about that, his whole could've been over without any chance of recovering in that single moment and he came out of it just on a CONCUSSION!!!

The best thing you can do in your training is to strengthen the spine and the neck that literally can save you a hospital visit and save you hundreds of thousands in hospital bills and the cost of medical supplies to keep you alive. I train my neck and spine just about every single day for the sole purpose of staying injury-free and possibly keep me from being aggressively injured  and not able to use my bodily functions again. That's why I consider Advanced Bridging to be the number one course for building a healthy spine and a super strong neck. Don't let the title fool you, it has stuff for beginners too and teaches you everything you need to know on how to handle yourself in various bridges, specific skills and in full detail take you through exercises that build an amazing level of capacity from your neck all the way down to your feet. Because of using this course I have never had injuries to my spine and have never broken my neck or even pinched it to where it was unbearable. Save your own life by training your body in ways many consider to be dangerous and to the extreme.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Back On The Deck

Over the last couple days I've tested myself on the Deck Of Cards Workout changing it up from One variation of 4 exercises to 3 exercises using multiple variations of 2 of them (Squats & Push-ups) doing V-Ups for the 3rd Exercise. So far I've beaten the deck both times and yesterday beating it in just over 30 min. That's a hell of a workout for only 3 exercises but they each lay a foundation for building solid conditioning and building strength, flexibility and agility.

The Squats are 3 variations of the Hindu Squat (Heels up, feet flat & jumpers) where the push-ups are more than a few variations to add variety but still keep them basic (Military, Dips, Different Hand Positions ect.) and the V-ups stay the same variation since it has a full body element of it having both a sit-up and the leg lift in the same movement. I would do a total of 388 Squats, 119 Push-ups and 119 V-Ups for the whole deck. Once its completed I add 12 Squats and 1 rep each of a push-up and v-up for a grand total of 400 Squats, 120 Push-ups & 120 V-Ups. I like to keep things rounded to the closest denominator of specific numbers to even them out.

As I get better I most likely will add reps to the cards to get things even higher for conditioning purposes. I'm not so much going for being ripped or looking like world-class athlete, I'll let this workout speak for itself and the results will come the way the universe will have it. I don't like talking about my personal goals much because whenever I do, 99% of the time I end up quitting early on and when I don't mention them they come quicker. Some will be very open about goal-setting and share them with others which is cool I love that about people but i'm more private about it and believe that they're my own and no one else needs to really know unless under certain circumstances. The reason why I love this particular Deck which I call the Indy Deck because its got Indiana Jones and scenes of adventures in all 4 movies that inspires me and gives me greater energy than music and/or training with somebody else. I know what you're thinking "come on man, they're just cards like any other, what makes them all that special", for one; It's F-cking Indiana Jones and 2; It's got 3 jokers instead of the normal 2 so it adds a challenge and amps up the conditioning even more with the Squats.

Eventually i'll add back the Hindu Push-ups & Tablemakers but they'll be a part of the multi-variation team of Push-ups. This is my way of looking at what Karl Gotch use to say on conditioning "always work your muscles from every possible angle." I do want to hit the 500 Squat goal again and do 250 Push-ups and more than 150 V-ups but it will take time and i'm not going to reveal it until I have actually completed it. I do have the discipline to go after 500 Hindu Squats in a row and I've done it a couple times but I choose to do them in sets for the purpose that once I get up to a certain number in a row, I get very bored and it becomes more of a dull grind than a workout. This way I can shift from one exercise to another and still keep things fresh, fun and exciting. The workout is never the same twice, the reps are the same but each card can be different from the last workout. It builds crazy stamina, strength from doing different push-ups, adds in coordination and balance from the Squats and it gets both the upper and lower abs on the V-Ups where you're working the entire Core using a full body movement and if I had to take a break I would leave my arms overhead and straighten my legs to open up the obliques so I'm getting the most out of the whole session.

 You can do other exercises with your own deck but always use a foundation of basic exercises and keep things fresh and you'll never get bored. You want an Indy Deck of your own? Go HERE and grab them. Have fun and never find an excuse, find an opportunity to train.


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