What's The Worst That Could Happen?

 Training isn't always pretty and sometimes shit happens. Earlier this past week, I wanted to go out to the park and play around with the Stronger Grip Monster Mace which I filled to 45+ lbs. Wanted to film a some stuff and even go shirtless which I rarely ever do and I know I need to work on my physique a little better (being modest here). The strength and condition is there but the look could use some improvement. 

Moving this son of a bitch wasn't fun and I did end up hitting myself a few times which you can view below.....

I originally didn't want to show these bloopers cause I've always been a guy who would just do the exercises the best way I could and go with it. This time, I figured what the hell and show that I can be vulnerable and it was scary as hell. In many cases, you're expected to have the perfect physique, picture perfect form and put on a little facade that you're above others because if you're even a tad normal compared to those who don't work out or show more vulnerability, you're not portraying what some people think you need to be. 

We make mistakes, we have our own struggles, even from doing this for decades. In my years of filming, training and putting myself out there, I have failed more times than what was the end result you end up seeing on social media and on this blog. I wanted to give people a glimpse that I do screw up sometimes. I didn't purposely hurt myself and reveal that it's ok to hurt yourself. Never want someone to hurt themselves but to give insights that even what we do to inspire others is that, accidents do happen and it's important to learn and correct our mistakes. 

I did eventually was able to rep the mace with that weight, even if it was just a few. See that below...

If I hadn't shown the bloopers, you may have thought that yeah, I am able to do this and it was on the first try. The truth is, like many times BTS, I've had to do several takes of things which in some aspects are a workout in and of themselves LOL. 

I don't have the perfect body, quite frankly there's no such thing but I also know I would like my physique to be better than what it is right now. I don't care much about being an IG model or be on some magazine cover, that's not part of my journey. I know I can do better, it just takes time and patience which the latter wasn't always my strong suit. I have ideas in, certain training styles and better eating to get me there and I may not show anything shirtless again for a while. I'm still grateful that I weigh far less than I was at my heaviest at 275. I'm now in the 230-235 range mostly these days and have stayed in that range for years now. 

Can still handle certain stuff well and I have no problem in the cardio department, it's now really a matter of just looking a little healthier and gaining better habits. It's all part of the journey right? 

Change is hard and I know for a fact there are some people out there who want to see me fail and will do almost anything and say anything to make sure I do, but I'm still standing and I won't stop fighting. I've got better things to do than to listen to some jealous shmuck with a grudge (not to mention a very disturbing obsession) that sends me sick and sexualized notes on a daily basis using aliases that show the same behavioral patterns and moronic high school trash talk. 

Anyways, the world isn't perfect and too many people chase perfection which in some aspects isn't a bad thing but if you're going to beat yourself up because you're not perfect to others, things will never happen the way you want them to. It's more important to get better at things little by little and do them with solid technique. Chasing perfection can become an addiction and addictions can bite you in the ass if you're not careful. Chase becoming better than you were before. You may fail at times but you don't give up and don't stop becoming a better version of yourself, even by the smallest fraction. Every tiny percentage of becoming better, leads to the bigger picture. 

What's Another Way To Skyrocket Our Physical Fitness?

 There's a saying that The Sky's The Limit to what our potential could be. What if we went beyond that into the realms of the universe? What if we reached beyond the stars and found a way to take our potential to another level? Hell in this day and age we built rockets that shoot up into space yet in order to do that, we need a foundation in order to build these things, a base if you will. Being steady is another step like the rocket because if it isn't steady and flops around, it's not going anywhere. When it comes to training, we also need a base or a foundation to get on that track to greatness. We don't start out great but we build on the tools needed to become great.

Ancient Martial Artists use the word grounding as the foundation, in the western world, we call it stability. It's the source of all our power. A tree cannot grow without the aid of water and soil. Without the support, our power, our strength is as useless as a shoelace in a pool game. To hit our hardest and jump our highest, being still and firm is our first level of mastery. To create something awesome in motion, stillness is the groundwork. Some of us can develop it naturally, others it may take some time and learning to understand how our body's handle the prerequisites. We are shooting out into the universe after all but in order to do do that, we have to master the earth first.

This is one of those missing links to many people's regimens. We try to push harder and harder and not realize that we are setting ourselves back more than we are going forward. We become more limited than expanded. Just like the rocket, if there is a miscalculation, that thing will crash and burn. It needs to possess the qualities to reach it's fullest potential otherwise disaster strikes. Many methods work, there's no question about it but very few will take you to places that you didn't think were possible.

I want to help you find the tools you need to reach the potential that goes more than what others may say about you or what you say about yourself. We all have aspirations to be strong, fit and full of energy, but where's the ground work, where's the foundation. Whether you're an everyday person, an athlete, a farmer or a shoe salesman like Al Bundy, there's potential that's waiting to be unleashed. 

One way to see through this is taking on a course like Athlete 20XX where there's so much room to improve yourself on yet also room for failure but success comes from failing and failure is one of the best teachers we can ever have. Not telling you to fail on purpose but to help you find your success and give you some cool stuff to do in order to succeed.  

Lay the ground work and build on unleashing the strongest version of yourself. It won't be easy and it may not come naturally to you but with discipline, a creative mind and a thirst for physical knowledge is within the palm of your hands. Be successful and keep striving to be amazingly awesome. 

I've Failed And The Lesson I'm Learning From It

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life...And that is why I succeed."- Michael Jordan

Failing is a powerful teacher that comes often in our lives. I've failed to do 100 Burpees in a row, I've failed to keep a program going for more than 6 weeks and most importantly, I've failed myself for believing that certain things whether from a fitness standpoint or personally would make me happier or fall in love with because others have told me to. One of the biggest things I've ever had to deal with in my life was letting others down because I didn't live up to the hype or the expectations. Most of the time, very few people give a shit what you do and the rest just don't care but want to spew how much of a failure you are. 

I've said it over and over again that when I talk about what I'm going to do or what my goals are and end up failing because I've talked about it just puts me in a dark state yet I've repeated it time and time again. Many get it, but many also just want to tear you a part for it because you're not what you're expected to be. I'm no fitness god or some perfect specimen, I'm just a guy, one of 7 1/2 billion on this planet who's had some success but plenty of failures like anybody else. Just a speck in the universe. If you don't like what I write or have an issue with what I say, than walk away. Don't read my stuff, no need to make asshole comments just so you can be noticed, the more you hassle somebody because you can't stand them, the more it says about you than the person writing. 

That's easier said than done because I've gotten caught up in the web of making snarky and negative comments towards people and have failed over and over to just walk away. I need to take my own advice on many things and learn to take things for what they are and pay attention more to who I really trust in this world. Very few in my life I trust and one of them isn't here anymore that I can talk to. I understand this article comes off as a pity party and I'm just begging for attention when the truth is; this is just me being human and sharing with you a side of me that is about as real as you can get until you've actually been around me and not just go by what I've written.

There is this fear people have of being open about their failures. I'm no exception but I also know who will tell me the truth, the real truth because they know me best. If you don't know me outside of the web, you have no reason to tell me the truth or have the faintest idea of what the truth is with me. So if you plan on making any comments good or bad, think twice about what you plan on saying.

Being happy in reality, is a mindset. I know this and it's a constant learning thing for me. Exercise and fitness makes me happy but very few methods I'm in love with. The type of love for exercise where I know regardless of how I do it, I never will have a movie star body or have heads turn from every other person walking down the street but I will bust my ass for the thing that I love and gives me joy. There's always going to be someone stronger, faster and far better looking than I'll ever be but that's ok. My expectations are from myself, not from somebody else and how I do things is not perfect, never will be and the way I train is what makes me happy. 

You'll never see me do the best looking pullup or the most awesome pushup, I don't have the patience to do 1000 or even 500 Squats anymore, I don't have a great looking set of Core Muscles but I know how strong they are, I move weird in certain animal exercises but that's what the universe gave me. I know what I can do and constantly learning what I'm capable of. What I can do has kept me strong and durable for the longest time, what I can do, helps others and what I can do, inspires a lot. I've also failed at doing things that weren't meant for me in the first place and tried to live up to others' ideas. 

I'm not meant to do someone else's program to the "T", I wasn't meant to live up to those who don't really matter and I'm damn sure I wasn't meant to be affiliated with a company that by all accounts, has a guy who thinks he's hot shit and acts like he's god's gift to fitness when he looks like Twiggy and can't properly set up a camera to get a good angle for exercises. If you feel the need to film yourself being in a dark ass room and nobody can see you but you want everyone to listen to you, you might want to just put out an audio. Anyway, the real lesson here is, failure is a part of life, the real success is how we break through it and keep fighting to get what makes us successful.